an extraordinary apple cake with "the finishing touch"

oh, we love apple cake in this house. we've tried many recipes (shared one here on gather last week), and each one has its own special twist. lillie's been sick with the flu this week - but when she got well enough to eat this morning, she asked for an apple cake with "the finishing touch." now, this is something that lillie always adds to any recipe. she tastes it, and then ponders what might be *just* the right thing to add to it, to make it extraordinary. i'd have to say, she got it quite right on this one. we've eaten almost the whole cake. sigh.

extraordinary apple cake

2/3 c sugar

1/2 c butter (1 stick), softened

2 eggs

1 T vanilla

1 1/2 c  oats

1 c flour

1 t each: baking soda and baking powder

2 t cake spice (we like penzeys)

1/2 t ground ginger 

THE FINISHING TOUCH:   1-2  t ground cardamom 

1 cup (8 oz) plain yogurt - we love brown cow

2.5 c peeled and chopped apples 

topping: 2 T melted butter, 2/3 c brown sugar, 2/3 c chopped walnuts

 preheat oven to 350; grease a 9x13 pan.

cream the butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla. mix drys together in a separate bowl. add in half the yogurt, mix up; half the drys, mix up; the rest of the yogurt, mix up; the rest of the drys, stir til just combined. stir in apples. spread in pan, sprinkle topping on top. bake for 30-35 minutes. tastes good hot, warm, and cold if it lasts that long.