• preheat oven to 180C and grease and line 2 x 15cm/6" baking tins
• Melt 85g of the butter in a small pan and cook on medium heat for approximately 5 minutes till it turns golden and gets a lovely nutty aroma. Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl skimming off the foam and leave to cool
• Sift together the flour, salt and spices
• Mix the milk, yogurt and vanilla extract till smoothly combined
• Beat the remaining butter with the sugar till light and fluffy
• Add the eggs one at a time and half the dry mixture with half the milk mix, add the buerre noisette/brown butter then beat and add the rest of the mixes. Lastly fold through the diced apple
• Spoon into 2 baking tins and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until well risen and golden and just coming away from the sides of the tin. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean. If not pop it cack into the oven for a few minutes more
• let the cakes cool in tins for 5 minutes then cool completely on a wire rack

Frosting

• Beat together the butter, cream cheese and iceing sugar and the maple syrup

Cake toppers

• Toast the crushed hazelnuts and pistachios in a dry pan for barely a minute till they are golden and aromatic, Add the sugar and shake pan for sugar to melt and coat the nuts. Tio out on to baking parchment to cool.
• snip the apple peel into thin slithers about 2mm wide and 1cm long and toast in dry pan for about a minute then add sugar and let it melt and shake to coat the little pieces of apple peel. Tip out on to baking paper to cool

Assembling the cake

• Spread a layer of frosting on the base of the cake and top this with a layer of jam if using
• Add the second cake and cover the top with frosting, leave a little frosting just to smear round the sides of the cake
• Sprinkle the top of the cake with the candied nuts and apple peel and then finish off with a dusting of icing sugar