Praline Applesauce Cake

This is an easy to make cake. The cake is rich, with apple spices and topped with broiled-on brown-sugar pecan topping.

• Ready In: 1 hr 5 mins
• Serves: 18
• Yields: 1 cake

Ingredients

• 2 3⁄4 cups  sifted cake flour, or all purpose
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1  lb applesauce, or 1 3/4 cups
• 2  eggs
• 1 1⁄2 cups seedless raisins

• Praline Topping

• 1⁄2 cup butter or 1⁄2 cup margarine
• 3⁄4 cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 1⁄4 cup heavy cream
• 1 1⁄2 cups  chopped pecans
• 2⁄3 cup flaked coconut
•  powdered sugar, for decoration optional

Directions

1. Grease a baking pan, 13x9x2; dust lightly with flour, tapping out any excess.
2. Sift cake flour, sugar, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, and salt into a large bowl.
3. Add shortening and applesauce; beat, scrapping down side of bowl often, 2 minutes at medium speed with an electric beater.
4. Add eggs; beat 2 minutes longer, or until blended; fold in raisins. Pour into prepared pan.
5. Bake in moderate oven 350* for 35 minutes, or until center springs back when lightly pressed with fingertip. Remove from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Raise oven temperature to BROIL.
6. Make Prailine Topping; spread enenly over warm cake.
7. Broil, 6 inches from heat, 3 to 4 minutes, or until topping bubbles up and turns golden. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares.
8. Praline Topping:.
9. Cream butter with brown sugar until fluffy-light in a medium-size bowl; beat in cream until smooth, then stir in chopped pecans and coconut.
10. Note:.
11. To decorate cake, lay several inch-wider strips of wax paper diagonally across top of cooled cake; hold in place with wooden picks. Sieve powdered sugar generously over cake, then carefully lift off paper strips.