Fig Cake with Caramel Glaze

I finally sat down and thumbed through most of my cookbooks and found recipes that would go with my list without breaking the bank (I totally just typed “banking the break”) on extra ingredients. The one I thought would be the hardest was my jar of fig preserves my grandma gave me.

I am not a huge fan of figs. My parents and grandparents both have a couple of trees, but I’ve only ever had them preserved. If you’ve never had them, they are…well, when you open the jar, they smell kind of like honey and spices and they look like testicles. There, I sad it. They are sickly sweet and sticky sticky and they look like balls. To me. Small, sticky balls. No, I don’t want them with my biscuits.

I have never told my grandma this because I don’t want to hurt her feelings, I like the way she smiles when she hands me a jar of figs, and because there is always someone who is less fortunate and grandma-less who will take them off my hands. So, let’s keep all of this a secret. Also, I can’t say “testicles” to my grandma. No way.

When I first started searching for fig recipes, I had a pizza in mind. Fig pizzas seem to be pretty prevalent on the internet and in my books – but they all called for fresh figs. I started to look at pies and cakes and they all needed fresh figs. I considered just using my fig preserves, but I really didn’t want to fuck it up.

I finally came across a cake that I decided to try. I made it last night while my friend was over and we smelled it baking and our mouths watered. I took it out of the oven and it fell apart (totally my fault – I’m terrible with Bundt pans and I also have zero patience for letting things cool completely), so we got to pick at it before and after the caramel glaze. For two girls who really don’t care for figs, we went to town on that cake. And the glaze…the glaaaaze. This cake is best friend and husband approved.

Anyway, if you live in the south chances are you have a pantry stocked full of figs and pecans, so get baking. I insist you make this amazing, super-easy cake. The only thing I had to buy to make it was a carton of whipping cream, and they have a pretty good shelf (fridge) life, so I will probably make two more cakes – one for the work dudes, and work to take to grandma. You know, to thank her for the figs.

FIG CAKE WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
4 ounces butter, melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup fig preserves
1 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 325°. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt or tube cake pan or spray with baking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl; add butter and oil and beat well. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Beat in buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in preserves and chopped pecans. Pour into the prepared baking pan; bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean.

CARAMEL GLAZE

4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Stir in sugars. Cook the butter and sugar mixture, stirring, for 1 minute or until bubbly. Stir in the heavy cream. Bring to a boil. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool slightly. Spoon the caramel glaze over a completely cooled cake.