1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 medium sized tart apples, about 1 and 1/4 pounds, peeled, cored and finely chopped
3/4 cup chopped pecans (about 3 ounces)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 inch X 2 inch round cake pan. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs on low speed, one at a time. Add flour, spices, baking soda and salt, beating until just incorporated. Mix in apples, nuts, vanilla. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake in 350 degree oven 35 to 45 minutes. Top will be golden brown and tester will come out clean. Remove to rack and cool. Turn cake out of pan after 10 minutes. Cake may be wrapped and stored at room temperature or frozen. Reheat in 350 degree oven 10 minutes or until warm.

Caramel Pecan Sauce
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup pecan halves
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup whipping cream

Melt butter in medium sized saucepan. Add nuts. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium high heat, until nuts are toasted and butter is lightly browned. Add brown sugar and cream and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until sauce boils and sugars dissolves and turns deep golden brown. Remove from heat . Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools. Sauce may be prepared several days ahead and store in refrigerator. Reheat in microwave before serving. To serve, place a wedge of cake on dessert plate. Spoon hot Carmel Pecan Sauce over. For added pleasure, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.