Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Using butter, grease the bottom and sides of an 6 inch round cake pan or springform pan and line the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper. To ensure even baking, place a bake even strip around the pan. You can make your own homemade bake even strip by cutting a towel or shirt to fit the size of your pan. Get the fabric really wet, then squeeze out the dripping water but do not squeeze it too dry. Secure the fabric around the pan with a safety pin.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Mix well.

In a larger bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar. Beat using an electric mixer until creamy, about 1 minute.

Add in the egg, beat again with the mixer.

Add in the applesauce, mix by hand with a spatula.

Gradually add in the flour mixture, mixing by hand until it’s incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan, using a spatula to evenly spread it out.

Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, carefully remove the cake from the pan. If using a springform pan, remove the sides and bottom. Allow the cake to cool completely on a cooling rack. Once cool, remove the parchment paper round from the bottom of the cake. If you need to level the top of your cake, do so now using either a cake lever or knife. Make sure the cake is completely cooled, then wrap the cake in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. This cake is good for up to one week like this.

In a mixing large bowl, combine the butter and vegetable shortening, beat using an electric mixer until fluffy, 2 minutes.

Add in the vanilla paste, beat using electric mixer.

Begin to add the powdered sugar, about 1-2 cups at a time, mixing by hand first, then with the electric mixer. Continue adding powdered sugar until the frosting tastes good to you.

Get the directions from Allie at Baking a Moment. I followed her directions, just halved the recipe! She has awesome step by step photo instructions that are easy to follow! Be sure to prepare your caramel sauce in advance because it needs to cool before adding it to the cake.

Spread a small amount of buttercream on a 6 inch round cardboard cake circle. Place your first layer of cake on top of the cardboard. Put buttercream on top of the first layer and spread it as even as possible with an offset spatula. Decide how much or how little frosting you want in-between each layer, you can measure the frosting, I’d use 1/3 to 1/2 cup in between each layer.

Repeat this process for each layer of cake. Once all of the layers are stacked and frosted, spread some frosting on the top of the cake.

Next, go back and fill in the gaps between the cake layers with more frosting. The frosting between the layers does not need to look perfect. Use a small offset spatula to get the frosting in between the layers and to spread it around the cake. Don’t completely cover the cake layers as they are suppose to still be visible.

Place the entire cake in the freezer or fridge for 20 minutes to harden the buttercream.

Once the caramel sauce is cooled, use a spoon to drizzle the caramel around the center and sides of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.

For decoration, add cinnamon sticks or another garnish to the top of the cake.

Serve and enjoy.