Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 23cm cake pan (not a spring form pan)
Add sugar, butter, salt, vanilla essence and orange zest to a saucepan over medium heat. Cook for 2 minutes until syrup has thickened slightly.
Pour syrup into the cake pan and arrange the apple wedges on top in a circular format. Make sure that the syrup is completely covered with apple.
In a mixing bowl sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon and salt.
In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Then add eggs, vanilla essence, orange juice and milk and mix well.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.
Pour batter over apples and bake for 45 minutes until skewer comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 - 20 minutes before flipping it onto a plate, serving board or cake stand.
Allow cake to cool for another 10 minutes before slicing.
