Fresh-Fig Cake With Honey Cream-Cheese Frosting
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Butter, for greasing the pan
- 3cups/384 grams all-purpose flour, more for flouring the pan
- 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon ground ginger
- ½teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¾teaspoon baking soda
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1½cups/300 grams granulated sugar
- 4large eggs
- ¾cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2tablespoons buttermilk or plain yogurt
- ¾cup/116 grams chopped fresh figs (3 to 4 figs)
- ¾cup/225 grams fig jam
- ¾cup/85 grams chopped pecans or walnuts
- 12tablespoons/180 grams unsalted butter (1½ sticks), softened
- 2cups/16 ounces/454 grams cream cheese, softened
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3tablespoons/60 grams honey
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3⅔cups/450 grams confectioners’ sugar
- 1cup sliced fresh figs (about 5 figs)
For the Cake
For the Frosting and Topping
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
892 calories; 48 grams fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 21 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 111 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 80 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 378 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the cake: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch cake pan (or two 9-inch pans), and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, baking soda and salt.
- Step 3
Using an electric mixer, whisk to combine sugar and eggs until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Whisk in oil and buttermilk or yogurt to combine.
- Step 4
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold dry ingredients into egg mixture just until combined. Fold in figs, jam and pecans.
- Step 5
Scrape into prepared cake pan and bake until browned and springy to the touch, about 65 to 75 minutes (or 35 to 45 minutes for the 9-inch pans). If the top gets too dark before the cake is finished baking, cover it with foil. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Step 6
While cake is cooling, make the frosting: Using an electric mixer, beat butter, cream cheese and salt on low speed until smooth. Beat in honey and vanilla, then beat in confectioners’ sugar.
- Step 7
To assemble the cake, remove cooled cake from pan and peel off parchment paper. Slice cake in half horizontally, so you end up with 2 layers. (You don’t need to do this for the 9-inch cakes.) Spread half the frosting between the layers, sandwiching it. Dollop remaining frosting in a thick layer on top of the cake, leaving a 1-inch border on the top of the cake, the sides, bare. Chill until ready to serve. Just before serving, top with sliced figs.
Private Notes
Comments
If I substitute apples for the figs should I use fig jam--or another kind? Thanks.
I just made this today and I'm not sure what happened. The cake was so dense, it was basically a bread. Hardly moist at all either. The cake had no fig taste once it was baked, and it was way too sweet. I followed the recipe exactly and I've been baking cakes for years now. I think this needs to go back to the drawing board.
I also cut the all sugar by almost half and I substituted orange extract in the icing ... I added more figs too ... it's a great cake ... taste the icing as you make it to find the best amount ...
I substituted pistachios (shelled & lightly salted from Costco, because who wants to shell pistachios? and I had them), reduced the salt, and added a few drops of rose water in the batter. I used a 10" cake pan - it was very full and resulted in a dense cake, more like a bread. It was moist and delicious, but I might use 2 smaller cake pans the next time and keep one to freeze.
My first thought was "Another fig cake with cinnamon, ginger, and fig preserves?" But then I found Yewande Komolafe's Fig Jam with Rosemary. Why not make a fig cake with lemon and rosemary? I followed this recipe, with these changes: omitted the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, fig preserves, and nuts; included 1 tsp ground rosemary, zest and juice of 1 lemon, and 1.5 cups total fresh figs. I also iced it with a simple vanilla cream cheese icing and sprinkled it with more fresh figs. Delicious!
This was very heavy and the time overbakes it. I doctored it pour lemonade and maple syrup to try and lend moisture before putting on the frosting. The frosting is fabulous but I used a cup of marscapone and only two cups of powdered sugar.