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1
Preheat the oven to 175F Choose a 6-cup souffle/ovenproof dish, generously grease it with one tablespoon of butter.
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2
Cut a round of parchment to fit inside the dish, generously grease it on one side with the remaining tablespoon butter.
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3
Place the sugar in a bowl.
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4
Zest about 1 tablespoon of the orange zest into the sugar bowl, rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips.
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5
Halve the orange and squeeze its juice into another bowl.
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6
Peel the apples, core them, and thinly slice them into rings (if you don't want to bother coring, simply halve them and thinly slice).
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7
Add the apple slices to the bowl with the orange juice as you work to prevent discoloring, tossing them to coat.
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8
Layer the apple slices, overlapping them, in the prepared dish, sprinkling each layer with a little of the sugar.
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9
Place the parchment round, buttered-side down, over the apples.
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10
Place in the oven for 12 hours.
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11
Remove the apple dish from the oven, there should be a good amount of bubbling juice.
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12
Pressing down on the parchment with an oven mitt, pour off the juice into a sauce pan.
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13
Bring the juice to a simmer and boil until brightly colored and thickened.
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14
Meanwhile, invert the apple cake onto a serving plate.
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15
Drizzle with the juices.