Apple and pecan sheet cake with lime icing

My name is Patricia but you can call me The Apple (Crazy?) Lady. ;)

After last fall’s endless list of apple recipes, I’ve started again – and my plan is to enjoy the pears as much as the apples this year.

This cake is moist, delicious, with a nice molasses hint from the demerara sugar. The original recipe called for caramel sauce as a topping for the cake, but I thought that something less sweet would be better and made a lime icing instead - not that I need an excuse to add citrus flavors to my baked goods and desserts... ;)

Apple and pecan sheet cake with lime icing
adapted from the great The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh

Cake:
2 cups (400g) demerara sugar
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
scant ½ teaspoon salt
600g (about 3) Granny Smith apples, coarsely grated – don’t bother peeling them
1 cup (110g) pecans, toasted, cooled and chopped

Lime icing:
2 cups (280g) icing sugar
finely grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons lime juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter and flour a 32.5x22.5x5cm (13x9x2in) metal baking pan*.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt and beat just until combined. Stir in the apples and pecans – batter will be stiff. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
Bake until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool cake completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Make the icing: sift the sugar into a medium bowl and add the zest and juice. Mix until smooth and spreadable, adding a little water if necessary. Spread over the cooled cake and set aside until firm, 20 minutes. Cut in squares to serve.

* I made the exact recipe above using a 20x30cm (8x12in) pan

Serves 15