Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare a 9 inch by 5 inch loaf pan by lining it with parchment. Us a long enough piece of parchment so that you have parchment "handles" hanging over the long sides of the pan. Those "handles" will help you remove the cake from the pan after the cake has cooled.

Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in cream and vanilla extract (or paste). Take pan off heat and let butter mixture cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, whisk eggs and sugar for 4 to 5 minutes on medium high speed until the mixture has thickened and is a light lemony yellow color.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Once the egg/sugar mixture is ready, gradually fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture by hand using a spatula. Then, take several large dollops of this batter mixture and stir it into the room temperature butter mixture. Next, fold all of the lightened butter mixture into the batter. Continue gently folding the butter mixture into the batter until everything is completely combined but, at the same time, being careful to fold gently. Keeping as much air in your batter as you can by gently folding the ingredients together will yield a lighter crumb in your cake.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Arrange thin apple slices across the top of the batter in two rows and bake for 50 to 60 minutes in your preheated 350 degree F. oven. Your cake will be done when the top is a pretty golden brown, is firm when you press on the top and when a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and let it cool (in the loaf pan) on a rack. Garnish with powdered sugar. This is a light and very tender (and delicious) cake. Slice it only after it is thoroughly cooled and use a serrated knife. Slice the cake slowly and carefully because this is a very tender cake. I thought the flavor of this cake was best on the second day.