Fresh Fig Cake
Fresh Fig Cake
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2¾ cups sifted all-purpose flour
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1½ teaspoons baking powder
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½ teaspoon baking soda
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1 teaspoon ground ginger
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
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½ teaspoon black pepper
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¼ teaspoon salt
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¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter
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1¼ cups raw sugar
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3 extra-large eggs
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2 teaspoons vanilla extract
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1 cup buttermilk
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1½ cups coarsely chopped pecans
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½ pound firm-ripe figs, washed, stemmed, and coarsely chopped
Instructions:
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Preheat the oven to 350° F. Coat a 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan with nonstick oil-and-flour baking spray and set aside.
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Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and salt onto a large piece of wax paper and set aside also.
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Cream the butter in an electric mixer at low speed for 5 minutes or until silvery and light. Add the sugar and cream at low speed for 3 minutes. Beat the eggs in one by one, then beat in the vanilla.
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With the mixer still at low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry. To avoid overbeating the batter, I add the dries in three batches, the buttermilk in two. By hand, fold in the pecans and figs.
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Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, spreading to the edge. Also rap the pan sharply on the counter two or three times to level the batter.
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Bake the cake in the lower third of the oven for about 1 hour or until it begins to pull from the sides of the pan, is nicely browned, and a cake tester inserted halfway between the rim and the center tube comes out clean.
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Cool the cake in the upright pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; loosen around the edge with a small, thin-blade spatula; then invert on the rack and cool to room temperature.
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Cut into wedges and serve as is or top each portion with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drift of whipped cream.