This Fig Almond Cake is one of my favorite ways to enjoy seasonal figs. This cake is made with a combination of spelt and almond flours. It is lightly sweetened with organic cane sugar, honey, cinnamon and cardamom.
I’ve always loved the combination of almonds and figs. It must be something about the nutty almond flavor which pairs well with the subtle sweetness of figs.
I love almond flour because of its delicious flavor and obvious health benefits. It is one of my favorite nuts. You will find it as a common ingredient in many of my recipes. However, the main reason I use it in abundance is because it is the only nut that my daughter who has a tree nut allergy can safely eat.
This past year, she outgrew her allergy to almonds, a big victory for our family. Which meant that yes, we could eat almonds again. It also meant, that we MUST eat almonds again! When your body fights a host of foods and considers them poison, the foods that were once an allergen, now tolerable should be eaten regularly to avoid becoming an allergen.
Since my daughter is allergic to all other tree nuts, we purchase our almonds from an almond only facility in an effort to minimize the risk of cross contamination with other nuts. Luckily, Barney Butter is one of the few facilities that offers a wide range of almond only products.
This recipe is inspired and adapted by the classic David Tanis, “Fig and Almond Cake”. I’ve swapped out the all purpose flour with a healthier spelt flour which provides a more rustic version. I love using olive oil in baking. The use of a mild oil instead of butter imparts a delicate flavor which pairs nicely with the flavor of fresh figs. I added a few extra touches such as cardamom, vanilla and lemon zest. Lastly, I cut the amount of sweetener so that the natural flavor of the figs can shine on their own.
I also used a combination of Kadota and Black Mission figs although you could solely use Black Mission. I just couldn’t resist the variety of colors at the market. A sprinkle of turbinado sugar on the tops of each fig helps to caramelize them as they bake. A light sprinkle of crushed, slivered almonds adds some texture.
I hope you enjoy this cake. It is visually pleasing and deliciously moist with jammy pockets of fig in every bite. Most important, it is very easy to make and perfectly acceptable to eat for breakfast/ brunch, dessert or as a snack with tea or coffee.
Fig Almond Cake
Free from: sesame, dairy, peanuts, soy. Vegetarian. Gluten Free option( *See notes)
Adapted from: David Tanis, NYT Cooking
Serving: One 9-inch cake
- 1 1/4 c almond flour
- 1/4 c spelt flour ( or almond flour to make gluten free)
- 1/4 c organic cane sugar
- turbinado sugar for sprinkling tops of figs
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 eggs, beaten one at a time
- 4 tbl olive oil
- 1 tbl honey (I used orange blossom honey)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp crushed slivered almonds for scattering on top
- 12-14 small ripe fresh figs, halved, any variety
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9-inch fluted tart pan or pie pan by greasing sides and bottom with butter or oil.
In a small bowl, add sugar. Using a microplane, zest lemon. Crumble zest and sugar together with fingers until combined, creating lemon sugar. This process helps release natural oils from the zest, increasing flavor. Set aside.
In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Whisk in lemon zest/sugar mixture. Set aside.
In a separate medium size mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, olive oil, honey and vanilla extract. Add the almond flour mixture and whisk until batter is smooth. Pour and spread batter evenly into pan.
Remove stems from figs. Cut in half and arrange fig halves, closely together cut side up, on top of batter. Sprinkle each fig with turbinado sugar. Sprinkle cake with crushed slivered almonds.
Bake for about 22-25 minutes, or until golden brown on outside and dry at center when a toothpick is inserted. Don’t worry, this cake is meant to be golden brown. My cake was done at 24 minutes. You may need more or less baking time, just keep an eye on it as all ovens cook at different speeds.
If using a fluted tart pan, bake on a sheet pan for easier handling. Cool for 20 minutes. If desired, dust with powdered sugar on top, whipped cream or coconut cream on the side. It also tastes great with creme fraiche or a drizzle of yogurt.
Notes:
- Substitute 1/4 cup almond flour for spelt flour to make the cake gluten free.
- Use small fresh figs only ( not dried). Heavy large figs will not hold well and sink when baked. Dried figs will change the consistency of this cake.
Such a beautiful cake 🙂
Thank you Jasmine! So sweet of you to share. The figs do all of the work 💛💜
This looks absolutely amazing and those figs!!! I love how elegant this looks and how you can eat it as a breakfast/brunch meal or as a snack with chai. Can’t wait to make this! How long are figs in season till? I imagine it is ending soon?
Thanks so much for replying Nadia! You will find figs definitely through the month of September possibly into early October so pick them up now and enjoy! It goes lovely with a cup of chai 💜💛
The cake looks amazing! It is so good to know that your little one outgrew her allergy to almonds 🙂 I have never tried baking with Spelt flour so I need to try baking one soon! Love the recipe and the gorgeous pictures of the beautiful cake 🙂
Thanks so much for reading & commenting Sonali. I think you will really like baking with spelt. It has a nutty flavor that I think pairs nicely with almonds. Your kind words about my daughter are so sweet. Thank you & happy baking 💜💛
I adore figs and my neighbor’s tree is bursting with Black Mission’s right now. She probably won’t notice a few missing from my side of the fence . . . 😉
Ha! Better yet, you could make the cake & share a slice or two with her 💜 Thanks for sharing & reading Karen. Enjoy fig season!
I found this linkof foodgawker! Your fig cake looks absolutely amazing and sounds delicious! Please courier a slice or two!
Thank you Anuja! You are so sweet to reply. I really enjoy making & eating this cake. I’ll send one over to you now with a cup of tea 💜💛
This looks fabulous Shahla, not that different from an all almond fig tart I’ve been making recently (and will again this weekend). I loved the figs I found in Berkeley, sadly local London figs are harder (but not impossible) to find!
Yes! You can definitely use all almond flour here. I adapted this recipe from a NYT cooking recipe, it’s such a fun, tasty & easy way to use figs. Thanks so much for your comments Ceri 💜
This looks and sounds wonderful – absolutely my kind of flavours – lemon, cardamom, almond…heavenly. It was interesting reading about allergens too and having to keep a consistent exposure to foods that were once allergens. Hopefully your daughter’s allergy to other nuts also disappears with time.
Thank you so much! This cake was so dear to me-it was one of my favorite things to create and bake up. You are so sweet for sending good wishes for my daughter.It means a lot. Thank you for reading and sharing 💜
This recipe looks amazing! Wow. Any idea if I could substitute the spelt flour with oat flour or another gluten-free flour? I don’t have allergies but a lot of digestive issues which can make baking a little tricky at times! Love how your recipes are dairy-free though!
Thank you Akansha! I haven’t tried it with oat but I’m sure you could sub all almond( I’ve seen similar recipes for all almond). There is only a bit of spelt in the recipe which I used simply because I love spelt but it also provides a sturdier base for the figs -sometimes all almond can be more delicate but it will still taste delicious! If you try it, let me know how it works ❤
That is one beautiful, mind blowing, delicious looking cake!
You are so sweet! It really is a lovely cake. Perfect with fresh figs when you can find them. I hope you try it- if you do, please let me what you think ❤ thank you!
Tried and loved this recipe!! Perfect in its sweetness and simplicity. It had a great balance of flavors that allowed the figs to shine. Thank you for sharing! Looking forward to trying more from your blog!
Dear Izzah! It makes me so happy to read that you made this cake and enjoyed it. Thank you so much for sharing ❤️