Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease the cake pan with butter and line the base and sides with greaseproof paper.

Peel and core the apples and cut them into small dice. Pour the apples into a saucepan with the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of superfine sugar and cook over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and all the liquid that is released during cooking has evaporated. Then remove from the heat and let them cool completely.

Pour the almonds onto a baking tray and bake for 5 to 8 minutes until lightly golden. Make sure to keep an eye on them as they burn easily. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely.

Once the almonds are cool, pour them into a food processor and grind them to a fine sand texture. Once they reach the fine sand texture, remove them from the bowl and set them aside.

Take the cooled apples and place them in the bowl of a food processor, with the almond extract, eggs, and 9 oz of superfine sugar. Blend until combined.

Add the ground almonds, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, and cornstarch and blend to combine. Make sure not to overmix.

Pour the batter into the lined cake pan and smooth the surface with a palette knife.

Bake the cake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Cover with foil halfway through cooking if the cake is browning too much on the top.

Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. After 10 minutes, remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely.

Place the cake on a serving plate. If you want to make a snowflake decoration on top, cut a snowflake stencil out of a sheet of paper and dust it with confectioner sugar. Lay the stencil over the top of the cake and dust it with more confectioner sugar. Lift off the stencil and serve.