Naked apple cake with ginger frosting

Grease four round baking tins (21-22 cm in diameter) and line the bases of the tins with parchment paper. You can bake the cake layers one at a time if you only have one tin.

Set the oven temperature to 180°C.

Finely grate the apples. Whisk the eggs with the sugar and vegetable oil for about 10 minutes until doubled in size.

Mix the salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, vanilla sugar and flour in a bowl. Sift the mixture over the thickened egg mixture and fold it in gently to make a smooth paste. Finally, fold in the apple and coconut.

Divide the mixture evenly between all the tins and bake at 170°C for 30 minutes. Test with a cake skewer. If ready, remove the cake and leave to cool completely.

The cake layers can be baked a day in advance. The cooled cake layers should be wrapped in plastic film to keep them moist. If necessary, use a bread knife to trim the bases flat before assembling the cake.

Buttercream: Mix all the ingredients into a smooth paste with a rubber spatula. Put in a piping bag.

Ginger frosting: Whip the soft butter with an electric whisk and add the icing sugar a little at a time. When all the icing sugar is mixed in, beat in the cream cheese using a hand whisk.

Finally, add the grated fresh ginger (peeled) and lime juice to taste. Do you prefer a slightly sweeter taste? Add more icing sugar. Do you prefer it slightly tarter? Add more lime juice. Put the mixture in a piping bag with a round nozzle.

Lime sugar: Rub together the lime zest and sugar to use as a sprinkle.

To assemble the cake: Place a cake layer in the centre of a serving plate. Pipe a frame of buttercream all around the edge of the cake layer, then fill the hole with cream cheese frosting to the same height as the buttercream.

Place the next cake layer on top and repeat the process twice.

Top with the last cake layer and refrigerate for about 20 minutes to set the buttercream.

Spread a very thin layer of buttercream over the whole cake to seal in all the crumbs. This layer is called a crumb coating, and the sides of the cake should remain visible where the buttercream is thinnest. A cake with this rustic look is called a 'naked cake'. To finish, pipe swirls around the edge of the cake and sprinkle with lime sugar. Store in the freezer or serve immediately.