I love figs
I'm getting ready for a trip away. Rattling through hoards of spices; glass jars pumped full of flours; dried this, dried that; florid jars of homemade jam and hot pickles that are making my drawers sag. I hate to let anything go to waste, so I am on a mission to use up as much as I can before I depart to distant shores. Try to go to the shop a little less.
As I stock take and ponder ideas for recipes I am finding little nooks where I place stashes of food I then have forgotten about. Oh dear, where did all this food come from?! Time for a cook off and a clear out!
Last week, the grocer in the next village on from me was selling figs for under 50p. This 'bargain' price had me excited, this is a rare occurrence in this part of the world. I think we import our figs from Turkey so they don't come cheap. Being such a delicate, easy to spoil fruit I guess the price for such earthy, succulent fruits from the Gods comes at a premium. When I buy a handful and take them home, I feel almost reverential towards the little purple bombs.
Really, I don't think you can beat the pleasure of an unadorned, perfectly ripe, fig, but with the leaves turning golden, and my collar turning up to beat the chill, I fancied a baked good, steaming from the oven with a dollop of thick cream. Vegan of course. So I pulled up my sleeves, gathered tubs, jars, lined up my bright measuring cups and set about creating a gluten free fig cake, moist as can be and sweet to a t.
As soon as I've ruminated on the ingredients, picked a suitable pan to bake the batter, and turned on the oven, my fingers reach for the radio. Depending on my mood, I'll choose a slice of Woman's Hour, where I may learn how to cook the 'perfect' something or other, or broaden my view of the world with interviews from female entrepreneurs in Africa or India, or perhaps they will be interviewing an actress, or a talkative bee-keeper. Or, if my brain is extra hungry, I'll opt for a science programme and spend the time having my mind boggled about multi-verses, or string theory. Or, I'll just pick a music station and sway or sing along (sometimes acutely tunelessly) to the river of songs. I love the cosiness of it. Creating my own little world whilst I create.
4 swollen figs at the peak of their perfection (or more if you can to cover the whole centre of surface of the cake - with the blessedness of hindsight, I would have done this)
1/2 c almond flour
1/2 c sorghum flour
1/2 c chickpea flour
2 Tbs potato flour
2 Tbs flax meal
2 Tbs maple syrup
2 tsp fruit sweetened orange jam or apple sauce
1 tsp almond essence
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (Himalayan preferably - healthier)
Oven Temp 180 degrees - Loaf Tin (lightly coat inside with vegan marg or oil then dust with flour. this will help it to rise as it stops the mix from sticking. The marg helps the cake to easily be removed)
Method
Preheat your oven - 180c degrees.
1.Sift all the dry ingredients, with the exception of the flax meal.
2.Combine this with 2 Tbs water, mix and leave to absorb for five minutes.
3.in a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients.
4.Now add the wet, including the flax, to the dry ingredients and lightly and gently fold together. Pour into the oiled baking tin.
5.Pop into the pre-heated oven. Leave to bake for 25-30 min.
Use a stick of dried spaghetti or a wooden tooth pick to test when the cake is done. If you push it into the cake and it comes out clean…it is ready.
The cake will have a golden top, and the figs bubbling hot and scarlet when it leaves the oven. Have it rest for 15mins before gently turning out onto a wire rack and leaving to cool.
Slice and drop a generous spoon of thick coconut whipping cream (or soya cream if you are ok with soy). Ooh, or perhaps a cool scoop of creamy, very vanilla, vegan ice-cream. Or how about ice-cream with a hint of rosewater and a sprinkling of crushed, candied & salted pistachios? Whatever is your joy.
The cake is very low fat, moist, gluten free, sugar free and vegan.
Lovely, lovely.
India Leigh xxx
8 comments:
This looks so good, I love figs!
@Anne Downing
Hi Anne! Thank you. Try it - don't hold back on the figs! x
It's that time of year for figs here too. They never seem to last long enough for me to make anything out of them, they're so good as is. Your cake looks awesome! :-)
Hello India
Thank you for your beautiful blog . Firstly I must confess to usually not being that interested in blogs and so far have been rather unadventurous in the cooking department. That said, I have felt increasingly drawn to exploring food, probably an offshoot from my cocktail barman mixology days And my body craving a greater variety of healthier food !
Anyway, I love the combination of delicious looking recipes, the story behind your current inspiration (...its like going on a culinary journey with you) and the fact you clearly prove that vegan dishes can be both exciting and delicious !
Thank you for your inspiration :-)
Phil
@Anonymous
A mixologist eh! Thank you Phil. I am falling over with appreciation for your praise. Perhaps you'll be a vegan mixologist! Hey, come back and let me know when you rustle up one of the recipes..or several of them! If you can conjure up a wicked mocktail to fix alongside any of them I'd love to hear about it. Suggest a few tunes too and we've got a party!
Hello. I had to try this recoipe after seeing those lovely pictures. And it was just lovely. I didn't have sugar free jam, so I used some orange juice instead:)
Can you enlighten me on what the measure abriviation "T" stands for? I just improvised since I didn't know.
There's not that many vegan alternatives in my little home town, but this cake is going to keep me sweet trough Christmas. Thanks
@Anneluren
Hey Anneluren (what a luxurious name!), I am so happy you loved the fig cake! Great idea to sub with orange juice. I bet it was super moist too! The T=Tablespoon. I'm going to head off and correct that. Thanks.
I am sure vegan options in stores and restaurants will and are increasing over time, even to the smallest of towns..one day. Have a happy Christmas. All the best for 2013! Happy baking :)
Hello, I commented on this cake 2 years ago, and here I am again. First, doesn't the ingredients list lack a "1.5 cup almond/oat/rice/whatever milk" bullet?
I add that at least.
This has become my go-to recipe for vegan cake, and a Christmas tradition for me.
The first year I made it with figs, for x-mas last year I used pears. I now have a test cake in the oven with raspberries from the forest here, and some white chocolate I made. I'm gonna make it for my mothers birthday this weekend.
This recipe always comes out nice and fluffy, not a given with vegan cakes in my experience.
Thank you for the inspiration, and a great cake.
Anne, from Norway
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