Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a glass or ceramic 9” round deep dish pie plate, or use a 9” cake pan. Sprinkle in enough granulated sugar to stick to the butter and coat the dish. Set aside.

Peel and core the apples and slice in half from top to bottom. Lay each half, cut side down on a cutting board and cut into thin slices. Place in a medium bowl and squeeze on lemon juice with each addition of apple slices. Repeat for remaining two apples and set bowl aside.

In a small sauce pan, melt butter and cool.

Beat the eggs and cream in a small bowl and slowly add the melted butter while whisking. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar together then with a wooden spoon, add in the butter, egg and cream mixture and stir. Mixture will be thick.

Pour in the apple slices and gently work the batter into the apples with a wooden spoon. Mixture will be very thick.

Use a rubber spatula and scrape into the prepared dish or pan, smoothing out the mixture to a flat smooth surface.

Bake 30 minutes and test with a toothpick poked into the center*. If the toothpick comes out clean, remove from oven as long as the torta is nicely browned. If not, continue baking for another five minutes or so until golden brown and the filling is cooked through. (Avoid overbaking.)

*Note, the typical toothpick test is not always conclusive because apples are wet, so even though the toothpick comes out wet, it doesn’t mean the cake is not cooked through. Also look at the liquid batter in the center to see that it is cooked.

Cool on a rack for five minutes and use a knife to separate the sides if they haven’t already pulled away. Invert a serving platter over the top and using both hands to grip the hot dish and the platter, flip over so the bottom is now the top. Gently pull off the baking dish.

Serve warm or cooled. Just before serving, sprinkle on powdered sugar by placing a few spoonfuls in a small sieve and tapping the sieve with a spoon while moving around the top.