Fab Food Feb : Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

This recipe came from the newspaper of a tiny Texas town. It looks overwhelming, but I'm pretty sure this is one of Jim's favorite desserts. Okay- top 3 (he just said that nothing beats a good Chocolate Chip bundt cake or Kahlua Cake) BUT IT'S GOOD. You'll need an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp.cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground clover

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

Frosting Ingredients:

5 oz. cream cheese

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt & spices

2. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer on high until fluffy (2-3 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, beat in applesauce.

3. Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden brown, 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees.

5. For the frosting, beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Sift in sugar and cinnamon.