In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and baking soda. Then add this to the wet ingredients before folding in the pecans and diced apples.
Place sauce ingredients into a small saucepot over medium-high heat. Stir constantly and bring it to a gentle boil. After it begins gently boiling, continue to stir and allow to cook for about 3 minutes.
1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup butter
Pour the sauce over the hot cake while it's still in the pan. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan.