Searched on the Internet to find ways of using up our large harvest of figs, and came upon several cake recipes all of which seemed overly complicated. So I made my own up, and here it is (scroll down to the end of this page for a brief version):
It is an 8:4:4:2 recipe for ingredients, which means 8 ozs SR Flour, 4 ozs soft margarine (or butter at room temperature if you prefer), 4 ozs brown sugar, two eggs (beaten).
You will also need some sort of spicy seasoning, like Allspice, or cinnamon. I did cinnamon, Quatre Epices (which I think is Allspice), and ginger. But you can use any mix of brown spices you want. Cumin or curry, though, is probably not a good idea! A teaspoon of spice mix is about what you need. Or less, or more, depending on how spicy, or not, you want to make the cake.
Oh and you need no more than 4 ozs of figs, probably 2-3 ozs is best otherwise the cake will be too soft and squishy therefore making it a delightful pud but difficult to use as a cake because it will crumble into a broken pile instead of making a nice clean slice when cut. Not to worry, though, if this happens because you can always eat it with a spoon and pretend that it was intended that it be this way if you are giving it to guests. A dollop of something or other on top, like yoghurt or cream, might also persuade them that it was intended to be that way.
As for the figs, just cut them up, but not toooooo small otherwise you will rob yourself of the pleasure of eating the chunks of figs which turn into a consistency and taste similar to dates. One would think that figs would dissolve away into nothingness because they are such a soft fruit, and they will do just this if cut too small. So you need to have some smaller pieces which will give flavour to the cake, and then have some bigger pieces which will give you those nice soft lumps of fruit.
I have also seen recipes which include sultanas, but I thought walnuts would be nice try, and they worked wonderfully well giving the softness of the cake some interest. It's nice to suddenly find a bit of nut in one's mouth when one is eating softness. I used a bag of whole walnuts, probably about 3ozs in weight, which I had to break up. However, if you have to do the same keep one of the walnuts back without breaking it up. But you could use any other type of nut, or you could use sultanas, or raisins (first soaked to ease their dehydrated state of being), or anything really, or nothing because this cake will be OK on its own, maybe with an icing put on top although I wouldn't recommend it because I think that it would spoil the lovely softness. Maybe a soft cream cheese icing then, which would sort of ooze itself into the general crumminess.
So, the method: Easy really. Creaming: into bowl put margarine (or butter) with the brown sugar, and blitz with a mixer until combined. Drop a dollop of beaten egg into the mix, then blitz for a second or two. Then add another dollop of egg this time adding a little flour taken from the 8 ozs. This will stop the curdling effect that can happen when adding eggs at this stage. Repeat last until all egg gone.
Pop in the figs and broken pieces of walnuts (as per photo), making sure you keep one entire walnut back if you have had to break the nuts up yourself.
Now add the flour, with whatever spices you have chosen already mixed in. Gently combine all, but no blitzing with a mixer otherwise you will end up with no figgy lumps. The mix should gently flop off a laden spoon. If it stays stuck, then add a tinsy bit of milk to the mix to moisten it up. But if it slops off the spoon fast then it is too wet a mix and you need to add a smidgeon of flour to dry it up. Of either, it is likely to be the second problem you might come up against because this will tend to be a wet mix.
Put into a lined cake tin. I always use greaseproof paper for the lining having given up with greasing and flouring the tin years ago. But I do re-use the greaseproof paper, this being my effort at being environmentally friendly. This cake needs an oblong cake / loaf tin to be cooked in, the reason being that if a round cake is made then you will have the devil of a job trying to cut a decent slice. As I say, this cake is very soft and squidgy, so an oblong tin is best because then you are more likely to be able to cut a decent slice. Trying to cut a v-shaped slice from a round cake is likely going to end up with half of the cake slice being left in situ.
So cake mix in tin. Sprinkly a generous quantity of white sugar over the top to give a nice crunchy top, or rather in this case, a firmer top.
Into the oven. At moderate. Now I have a calor gas oven which varies in its temperature range according to the how much gas is left in the gas bottle, or how hot or cold the gas in the bottle actually is. That is why I say 'moderate' for temperature. In my days in the UK, when I had an electric oven which had a regulated temperature at all times when in use, I used to fuss about making sure that the temperature knob was set at exactly the right temperature as given by whatever recipe I was making. And I remember fiddling about with that knob, fretting about whether a degree or two either way would spoil what I was cooking. Not know. After two years of caravan cooking and a year further on with a French calor gas cooker, I have realised that 'moderate' will cook most anything, with a 'higher moderate' being needed for pastry, and a 'higher higher moderate' for making bread.
Into the oven, then, for about forty minutes. Test by pressing the top of the cake (take it out of the oven first of course!) and if it feels firmly springer then it is done. I tend to go for 'very firmly springy' so would most probably put it back into the over for another ten minutes or so although it probably doesn't need it.
Meanwhile, allow anyone who wants to 'lick out' the bowl in which the cake was made by handing them a spoon to do the job with. In my case, this is the job of Hubs. Oh and the single walnut? Eat it, you have deserved the treat! I love walnuts, and if I didn't put aside that single walnut to eat when I had finished making the cake, then I would probably keep nibbling away at the walnuts as I broke them up, maybe even halving the quantity going into the cake. I am a nutaholic!
Cooking time at an end, so take the cake out of the oven but leave in tin until cold. It might get a soggy bottom if greaseproof paper is used, but it is better to be soggy botted rather than having the cake fall apart if turned out too soon. If it is being used as a hot pud, I would still not turn it out but take servings straight from the tin. Not sure how this would look if one had guests. My cake tins are well used and therefore not condusive to sitting on a dining room table. But what you could do is lift the cake up out of the tin using the greaseproof paper, put the whole shebang onto a posh plate, paper as well, et voila! Unwrapping the cake / pud from the greaseproof paper infront of the guests would make quite a nice impression don't you think.
But if using the mix as a cake, then leave it to cool down in the tin, then remove and put in the fridge, the coolness of the fridge helping the cake to stay glued together when cut. I would keep the greaseproof paper on it as well just to deter the cake from flopping apart, which it shouldn't do, but just in case. Ice cake after a couple of hours if you want to.
It's not going to be the prettiest of cakes, although you could tart it up if you wanted to, but it is not likely to hang around too long as it it will get eaten up fast. It is delish. And sorry about not taking a photo of a cut slice....as I say, this cake does get eaten up fast.
And what I do is use a couple of slices for a hot dessert, then the rest as a cold cake.
And here is the recipe in brief. Because I am of a certain age I still use pounds and ounces rather than metric so you will have to convert that yourself.
8ozs SR Flour,
Approximately one teaspoon of brown cake spices. (Cinnamon, allspice, etc) Mix with flour
4ozs soft margarine or butter at room temperature
4ozs brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3-4ozs figs approximately, chopped, some fine, some chunkier
3-4ozs walnuts, chopped but not so fine as to be too tiny
1 cake tin, preferably oblong, plus greaseproof paper to line it with. This cake needs this lining.
1: Using the creaming method, cream the margarine / butter and brown sugar together until well mixed using a mixer.
2: Add a dollop of egg. Mix. Then another dollop of egg plus a teaspoon of the flour. Mix. Continue until egg all gone.
3: Add chopped figs and chopped walnuts. Stir gently.
4: Add flour and spice mix. Stir gently.
5: Into lined cake tin. Cook for approx 40 - 45 minutes until firm to touch.
6: Leave in cake tin to cool down unless needed for a hot pudding. But I would still suggest that you keep the greaseproof paper around the cake to help keep the serving of the cake tidy....this cake will have a tendency to break itself up if you are not careful when cutting it.
7: When cold, the cake is best kept in a fridge although does not have to be. Ice when cold if you like.
This is a simple recipe, and is not complicated in its ingredients. Hope you enjoy.
