Polka dots make everything better – especially when they’re figs! # 190: Fig & Honey Cake

Happy Tuesday lovely humans! If you’re in the Bay Area, I hope you’re finding time to frolic out in the fresh air. I’m still checking the air quality every few hours like a crazy person, and the happy little green symbol makes my day.

This recipe called this creation a “snack cake.” I wasn’t previously aware of that category of cake but I’m HERE for it. I’m sure it’s a close friend of the coffee cakes of the world, but it’s also more support for my cake-all-day-every-day policy.

I ended up cutting the recipe in half to match the amount of figs I had handy. Andddd I also added a quarter teaspoon of cardamom and cinnamon each, because why not? Love a classic butter cake, but we’re leaning into fall, folks. Add those warming spices like no one is watching!

Gotta love a one-bowl cake.

Like most cakes – try not to overmix the batter! You want it to have a light and fluffy crumb, and extra stirring can tip it over into the realm of chewy and dense.

Figs are such an odd fruit. I went down a rabbit hole about the whole am-I-eating-dead-wasps-in-figs conundrum, and the short answer is no. One specific type of wasp (appropriately called the Fig Wasp) is responsible for pollinating fig flowers to make them into delicious fruit, and it unfortunately has to crawl up into the growing fruit to do so. The article I was reading called a fig “a flower with it’s petals folded inside,” meaning wind and bees aren’t able to spread the pollen like with most fruit trees. Rest assured that any wasps that left inside the fruit are broken down by an enzyme called ficin into protein – like magic!

Art.

Don’t forget the mid-sauna honey drizzle break! Then pop it back in oven til lightly browned on top.

The more honey the merrier! When Nate and I moved in together, he brought a TON of honey with him. I literally thought we’d never have to buy honey ever again. And then I discovered homemade granola and delicious cakes like this . . . safe to say, we’re gonna have to get some more honey soon.

Here’s my granola recipe:

• 3 cups oats
• 1 cup almonds (sliced, flaked, whatever you have handy!)
• 1/2 cup neutral oil (I use canola, and substitute a few tablespoons with my orange olive oil * chef’s kiss *)
• 1/2 cup honey (use the same measuring cup you used for the oil, and you won’t have to spend a year scraping honey out of it into your mixing bowl)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 300F. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, then spread it out on a half sheet baking pan (lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat) and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes or so, and then crumble into a resealable container for your future breakfasts!

Way better than a fig newton, if I do say so myself.

I’m learning (slowly) to keep a few pieces of whole fruit for the post-bake photoshoot. Unexpected perk: having extra fruit to throw on my granola the next morning!

Happy munching!

Recipe mostly from: https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/fig-and-honey-snack-cake/