Fresh Fig & Cornmeal Snack Cake is an easy, one bowl bake, with floral fresh figs and earthy cornmeal wrapped up in a bit of cardamom and cinnamon. It will be your new favorite anytime cake. Promise.
There comes a time….right around….now….mid August…where you feel a slight breeze in the air.
Do you feel it too?
It’s an ever so slight, yet absolutely refreshing breeze; a welcomed relief after the dog days of July. A new shoulder season of late summer into the early tremors of autumn are somehow upon us! It also happens to be my favorite of the shoulder seasons.
What is also very much upon us is the second wave of fig season. I understand not everyone is a fig fan….but that’s fine…more for us. I eagerly await fig season all year because figs are a versatile, healthy, and delicious treat. Eat them simply as they are, drizzled with honey for breakfast, tossed through an arugula salad with goat cheese, and, OF COURSE, baked into my Fig & Brown Butter Scones.
Last week, I somehow found myself in an overwhelming amount of figs that needed to be used quickly. What better way then to bake them into a cake. And not just any cake; a casual, simple yet elegant snacking cake. Snacking cake is my favorite type of cake because you don’t need a special occasion or moment to make it. It’s one of those baked goods that quietly sit on your kitchen counter (under that cake dome you got as a wedding gift but never used), waiting to be nibbled on because it’s a weekend, a weekday, the middle of the night, raining, sunny, or just…I want some cake. So I created a recipe that comes together quickly; getting you from I want cake to I am eating cake….fast.
Fresh Fig & Cornmeal Snack Cake is the perfect anytime cake!
Fresh Fig & Cornmeal Snack Cake is hands down the most magical cake. Period. It grasps ever so tightly onto onto every tiny bit of that end-of-summer feeling with fresh figs, and cornmeal, while embracing the arrival of autumn with cardamom and cinnamon.
While cornmeal may feel to most as an unusual cake ingredient…trust me…its perfection. I love corn anything, especially in baking. Cornmeal lends an earthy, warm flavor to your baked good while providing a little texture to the crumb itself. While a normal cornmeal would work fine here, I highly suggest sourcing a more rustic cornmeal with a slight medium grind like this one from Bob’s Red Mill.
The spices in this cake compliment the rustic feel of the cornmeal. Cinnamon and cardamom are my little welcome to the Autumn season that’s slowly creeping in. The cardamom I absolutely adore is from Burlap & Barrel. The BEST BEST part about their cardamom is it comes in a pepper grinder like bottle; allowing you to freshly grind your cardamom without requiring a mortar and pestle. Try it here! Freshly ground cardamom sounds fancy, but it is really the way to go. It’s not finely ground…but rather has little bits and pieces…yielding the most intoxicating flavor.
Another Burlap & Barrel product I absolutely adore is their vanilla powder. Vanilla powder is the entire vanilla bean dried then ground into a powder; giving your baked goods, custards, and ice creams those iconic vanilla flecks with robust, rich vanilla flavor. Please try some here!
As with all my cakes, it’s not-too-sweet and very simple to make. It’s amazing…almost mandatory to have with a cup of coffee or tea…or simply nibbled off when you need a little something.
(I suppose if one doesn’t wish to try figs or simply you find this recipe when fig season has ended….you could attempt it with blueberries.)
Regardless of your excuse, need or occasion….or lack thereof all of the above, I highly encourage….neh….urge you….to bake this cake.
Fresh Fig & Cornmeal Snack Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup -1 tablespoon raw/turbinado sugar see note
- ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder or vanilla extract or paste
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, slightly soft
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup good quality medium grind cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼` teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup sour cream
- 7 large ripe figs stems removed, sliced in half lengthwise
- ½ tablespoon raw sugar for topping
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the ⅔ cup raw sugar, ground cardamom, ground cinnamon, and vanilla powder. Using a small spoon, grind/press firmly the ingredients together. This will infused the sugar with the spices. If using vanilla extract or paste, Add the vanilla after you cream the butter and sugar.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F
- Grease a 8" spring form pan. Place it on a cookie sheet. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (or in a bowl with a hand mixer), add the butter and infused sugar. Mix on medium until the butter is creamed.
- (If you are using vanilla extract or paste, add the vanilla into the creamed butter/sugar and mix to combine.)
- Add the eggs and mix until combined. You may need to scrape down the bowl once or twice.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt. Stir with a fork to fully incorporate them together. Set the bowl aside.
- With the mixer on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the sour cream. You must begin and end the process with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. You can also do this bit by hand, with a rubber spatula. Make sure when the final bit of the dry ingredients are added, no bits of them are remaining and the batter is uniformly mixed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan. Smooth the top of the batter with a spatula. Arrange the figs, cut side up, on the cake. When adding them, gently press them into the batter, otherwise when the cake bakes, they will pop up and out of the batter.
- Sprinkle the top of each fig with a touch of sugar. The entire top should take about or a little less than ½ tablespoon.
- Place the cake (with the cookie sheet) into the oven and bake for about 50-54 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. If your cake is getting too dark and not done baking, lightly drape a piece of aluminum foil over it.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before opening the spring form collar. Let the cake cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!
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