My New Favorite Cake: Fig & Lemon

So by now you know my professed love for figs.

Dried or fresh. Kadota or Mission. Black, Green or Golden, it doesn't matter, they are the food of the gods.

The fig tree has a sacred meaning for Buddhists and it can also be found in some images of the Garden of Eden.

To me they are just plain delicious.

It's almost fig season and I can't wait.
But for now, dried figs will have to do.

I have been searching for the perfect fig cake recipe and I think I finally found one which I will be making for Mother's Day, with preserved figs and buttermilk in a bundt pan, but for today, I wanted something simpler.

So I combined 2 good sounding recipes, one from Martha Stewart, the other from an Australian website, called cuisine.au.

I changed a few ingredients and measurements just a bit and the results were terrific.
This is not a sweet icing type of cake, more of a plain cake that you would want to eat for breakfast with coffee.

It is almost like a big Fig Newton! It is my new favorite cake. SO easy to make and SO delicious to eat.



Fig & Lemon Olive Oil Cake: (inspired by Martha Stewart)

2/3 cup olive oil, plus more for pan
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

8 oz. package of dried figs, chopped
zest of one lemon
1 tsp of fresh chopped rosemary



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (or a cake pan lined with parchment paper) with oil; set aside.

In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together oil, milk, and egg; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; add milk mixture, and stir with a rubber spatula just until smooth (do not over mix).

Gently fold in figs and lemon zest.



Spread batter in prepared pan; set pan on a rimmed baking sheet.



Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 45 minutes.



Cool in pan 15 minutes before unmolding cake onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Cut into wedges and serve. Vanilla ice cream would be the perfect friend for this cake.