Preheat the oven to 350F.

Place an 11-12″ cast iron or oven-safe skillet over medium heat and add the apples, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Stir and continue to heat until the apples start to become tender and their juices produce a syrup-like coating (about 10 minutes).

Remove from heat and move on to the batter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, and apple sauce.

Then whisk in the vanilla and eggs.

Once smooth, whisk in the dry ingredients. The batter will become very thick so halfway through mixing, pour in the milk and continue to mix.

The batter should be thick and sticky.

Back to the skillet full of apples – remove ½ cup of the apples with some of the syrup.

Then pour the batter into the skillet full of apples and fold to combine the two. It doesn’t have to be well mixed. Just fold just enough to where the apples and syrup are evenly distributed.

Spoon the reserved ½ cup of apples on top in a random placement. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tbsp of brown sugar, concentrating the sugar in the apple sections.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean with a few moist crumbs.

While the cake cools, make the icing.

Whisk together the sugar and milk until smooth. It should be the consistency of elmer’s glue. If it’s too thin, whisk in a spoonful of sugar at a time until you reach the right thickness.

After about 15 minutes, pour the icing over the warm cake.

Now you’re ready to cut a slice or dig straight in with a spoon. Enjoy!