Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the apple topping: Grease a 12-inch Dutch oven or a large, deep baking dish. Add the apples, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter and flour. Mix well then sprinkle with walnuts.

To make the cake: In a large bowl or mixer, cream together the shortening and brown sugar. Mix in the egg, sour cream and vanilla. Sift the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and salt together into a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the shortening mixture and mix thoroughly. Spoon the cake batter over the apple topping then bake until cake is nicely browned, begins to pull from the sides of the pan and a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly, about 40 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes then turn it out onto a large plate. Serve slices of cake warm or at room temperature drizzled with hot caramel sauce, if desired.

Cook’s Note: This cake can also be cooked the traditional way—with hot coals. Put the lid on the Dutch oven then rest it on 10 hot coals. Place 15 more hot coals on top and cook until the cake is done, about 45 minutes.