Fresh Fig & Cornmeal Snack Cake
Fresh Fig & Cornmeal Snack Cake is the most magical cake ever. It clutches to every bit of summer with fresh figs, spices, & cornmeal.
Servings: 1 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!
Notes
Sugar: I use raw/turbinado sugar because it has a robust and rich flavor. You can replace it with conventional white sugar.