APPLE AND MARCARPONE TORTA

Base
70 gm softened butter 

110 gm (½ cup) raw caster sugar 

Finely    grated rind of 1 lemon 

1    egg 

90 gm    self-raising flour 

50 gm    (1/3 cup) plain flour 

175 ml    milk 

150 gm    mascarpone 

Mascarpone filling

350 gm    mascarpone 

40 gm    raw caster sugar 

½  egg, lightly beaten 

Finely    grated rind of 1 lemon
 

Apple topping

1 small Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced widthways 

Juice    of ½ lemon 

For brushing:    melted butter 

For scattering:    demerara sugar 

For dusting:    icing sugar 

Preheat oven to 170C.

Beat butter, caster sugar and lemon rind in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (2-3 minutes), scrape down sides of bowl and beat in egg. Sift in flours, fold to combine, stir in milk and mascarpone, spoon into a 23cm-diameter springform tin, buttered and dusted with flour, smooth top. 

For mascarpone filling, whisk ingredients in a bowl until smooth, then spoon over cake batter and smooth top. 

For apple topping, toss apple slices in lemon juice and arrange, overlapping slightly, on top of mascarpone mix. Brush with melted butter, scatter with demerara sugar, bake until golden and risen (50 minutes-1 hour).

Cool in tin for 20 minutes, then run a sharp knife around sides of tin to loosen cake, remove sides of tin, cool cake to room temperature and dust with icing sugar.

Torta will keep stored in an airtight container for 2 days.