Fig and Almond Cake

On a recent grocery trip, I was delighted to see a lot of fall fruit, but none more exciting than a case of black figs from Greece. These were large, clementine-sized beauties that looked so inviting. Eaten fresh, they were soft, sweet, and fragrant. But baking them into this easy cake was a great way to use up a lot of them at once.

Fig and Almond Tart

The recipe is from David Tanis, published in the New York Times. I had a lot of pre-ground almonds so skipped the step of grinding whole almonds. I used about ¾ cup, tossed with the sugar. Everything is just stirred together, making this cake super simple to make.

Fig and Almond Tart

Because my figs were large, I cut each into thirds, and arranged the in circles on the batter. The fruit baked into melting tenderness, oozing purple syrup in the hot oven.

I don’t think I’ve made anything in recent memory, that is so simple, and so delicious. The soft tender cake in the center, and the slightly chewier edges, interpersed with the cooked figs, filled each forkful with flavour and texture.

The only critique from my tasters, was the strong, and somewhat off-putting amount of almond extract. It did mellow after a day though. However, I think the cake would be fine without it.

Leave a comment