Apple Snack Cake with Caramel Glaze

After picking apples over Labor Day Weekend, and making apple pies, apple pancakes, applesauce and packing plenty of apples into the kids' lunches, I start looking around for apple recipes to use up my quickly softening apple harvest.  This apple snack cake was delcious with the delightfully sweet caramel icing next to the tartness of the apples.

Apple Snack Cake
1 1/4 cup a.p. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 baking apple peeled, cored and diced or chopped
1/2 cup optional raisins and chopped pecans

Caramel Icing
2 1/2 Tbl heavy cream
1/3 cup light brown sugar packed
2 1/2 Tbl butter
1 tsp light corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven 350 F Butter and flour a 9x13 inch pan (line with parchment and butter and flour, if you like, in order to remove the bars easily.)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in medium bowl.
In saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir with whisk until melted and smooth about a minute. Remove pan from heat.
In saucepan, whisk in the eggs one at a time mixing until they are blended. Add the applesauce, vanilla and whisk until incorporated and mixture is smooth.
With rubber spatula gently stir in flour until disappears. Stir in apple, (if using - raisins and nuts.)
Pour into pan and smooth top.
Bake for 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center is clean.
Transfer pan to baking rack to cool and make glaze.

Glaze
In a small saucepan, whisk together the cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup. Place pan over medium heat and bring mixture to boil, whisking frequently. Adjust temperature so the glaze simmers and whisk frequently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Turn bars out of pan and pour the hot glaze on bars and smooth. Cool to room temperature before cutting.