In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, mix together sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Reserve 2 tablespoons of sugar mixture for topping the cake and add the rest to the flour mixture (please see note regarding that step). In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, applesauce, yogurt, and vanilla until well combined, then pour into flour mixture and fold just until combined. Do not over mix – the less you mix, the lighter the bread will be. Fold in nuts.