• Ideally, prepare the cake a day before.

Applesauce instructions

• Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces.
• Cook them over low heat in a small saucepan with water and sugar until they have a melting texture.

Almond cream instructions

• While the applesauce is cooking, prepare the almond cream. In a salad bowl, make a "beurre pommade" with the soft butter using a soft spatula. You must press it heavily with the spatula to obtain a creamy texture.
  
• In another bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla sugar. Then incorporate the almond powder.
• Add this mixture to the butter and mix vigorously to obtain a homogeneous cream.
• Then, add the bitter almond (or orange blossom) and the rum eventually.
• Finally, for a crunchier version, you can add some crushed almonds. Reserve.

Assembling the cake

• Unroll a first puff pastry. Spread the applesauce in a thin layer leaving 2 cm of free edge.
  
• Then spread the almond cream evenly over the applesauce.
  
• Place the fava rather towards the outside of the cake.
• Prepare the gilding: mix the eggs with the milk using a whisk.
• Brush the free edge of the cake. It will help you to weld the 2 doughs.
• Close the cake by covering it with the second puff pastry.
• Then weld the edges together: either by lightly pressing the two dough together with 3 fingers or by "chipping" it. To do this, with the tip of a knife, bring the dough towards the center of the cake by directing it with the blade of a knife at an angle (look for videos for further explanations).
• Brush the cake with the gilding mixture.
• Reserve the cake in the refrigerator until the next day, or between 30 mn and 1 hour if you prepare it on the D-day. This will help to weld the two doughs together.
• When you take the cake out of the fridge, draw patterns on the top of your cake with the tip of a knife (rosette, flowers, stripes, etc...).
  
• Then, brush the cake again with the gilding.
• Make 4 holes with a knife so that the cake does not peel off during cooking.
• Bake for about 30 minutes at 180°C, checking regularly that it is cooked. Do not hesitate to turn a bit the cake in the oven so that it cooks evenly.
• Once cooked, you can add a sugar syrup on the cake to make it even shinier. To do this, first melt some sugar in a skin of water and let the mixture cool down. Then brush the cake with the syrup with a food brush.