fig, blueberry, and almond cake
I’m a lucky girl, and not just because a lovely, rustic colander filled with Gawgia figs and freshly-plucked blueberries mysteriously made its way onto the kitchen counter.
I’m feeling grateful to live under a roof with one of my favorite people and several of my favorite creatures; to have a job at which I get to sculpt things out of flour and water and yeast; to live in a city that I’ve grown to love; that my family and friends love me even though I don’t call nearly as often as I should.
I’m grateful to have food to eat, and for the fact that there seems to be a community of people who share this strange compulsion to post pictures and stories of the food they craft and eat. I’m also feeling a twinge of first-world guilt. Perhaps I could run ads and donate to food banks? I don’t know.
I’m just feeling grateful. That’s all.
This here cake
is intensely almond-y, with little cornmeal crunchies and pockets of jammy, figgy goodness. It would be just as tasty with just blueberries, or without any fruit at all, of this I am certain.
I’m also pretty grateful that this series on figs is coming to a close. I get distracted by shiny, new things like savory white bean tarts and vegan banana walnut chocolate chip cookies and, to be honest, a new-ish service that delivers from almost any restaurant in town. Mmmmmm. Sweet, sweet, lazy takeout. I love you.
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Fig, Blueberry, and Almond Cake (adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)
1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal 1/2 cup cake flour (all purpose worked fine for me) 1 teaspoon baking powder 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1/4 cup almond paste, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar 2 eggs, room temp 1/2 a cup sour cream 1/2 a cup blueberries, tossed with a bit of flour about 5 figs, quartered Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8″ cake pan with parchment and spray with no-stick, or butter and flour it. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, and baking powder. Using mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and almond paste on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Mix about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sour cream and dry ingredients, mixing until just incorporated. Fold blueberries into batter, then scrape into prepared cake pan. Smooth with spatula. Press figs into batter. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until the cake is golden and pulls away from sides of pan. Let cake cool on a wire rack, then remove from pan.
So beautiful! Everything on your site is so vibrant and pretty. Your photos are mouth-watering. Not a fig fan, but i’d try this cake for sure!
This is so wonderful looking. Fresh figs look increible in both their cooked an raw state
HUBBA HUBBA look at those figs! :D
Wow! This cake looks amazing: figs, blueberries and almond… sounds heavenly! And I love when cake mixture surrounds fruit, it’s just beautiful! :)
I love that you started your post with gratitude…a great way for us all to start our days :)
And I’d be grateful for a slice of your lovely cake…so full of yumminess!
This cake is beautiful, almost too pretty to eat!