Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 8×8 pan with butter. Peel, core, and slice apples.
Place apples in pan and coat with 1/4 cup of the sugar and the 1 tsp cinnamon. For this I used Rapadura, although I would have loved to use maple syrup had I had it in the house! Stir mixture around until well coated.
In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, the remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder, butter, 2/3 cup of the milk, and salt until well combined and smooth.
I used spelt flour, but you could also use whole wheat with good results or a gluten free baking mix as well. I also used 1/2 rapadura and 1/2 sucanat for the sugar (again, would love to try this out with maple syrup next time), aluminum free baking powder, coconut oil (adds sweetness without more sugar), raw milk, and sea salt.
Then mix in the remaining 1/3 cup milk, egg, and vanilla until smooth again.
Spoon cake batter over apples.
Bake for 50 minutes or until slightly browned and toothpick comes out of batter clean. (if you test with a toothpick, don’t hit the apples or it’s not going to be clean!)
Let cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!! Definitely perfection when warm out of the oven!