I’m happy to say that I had more figs this year from our tree than ever before. Figs and Chocolate make this cake dense and decadent, with a rich texture. It was incredible. I made a simple mascarpone cream to serve alongside it, which was delicious with the fresh figs, as well…

Chocolate Fig Cake

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter
1 cup chocolate chips
6 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups figs, chopped

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously butter a 9 inch cake pan, then coat the pan with sugar… shake out excess and set aside.
Melt butter and chocolate chips together.
Beat in the sugar.
Add in the eggs and thoroughly combine.
Stir in all the dry ingredients and once combined, mix in the chopped figs.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is set and cake is firm to the touch.
Be sure not to overcook, the center of the cake should be moist… you cannot rely on using the toothpick method.
Allow cake to cool for about 15 minutes, before removing from the cake pan to a cooling rack.
Once the cake is cool, place on serving plate and dust with powdered sugar.

Note: This cake keeps well in the refrigerator for about 7 days.

For Mascarpone Cream – mix together softened mascarpone, vanilla, a little honey and heavy cream.

Most cake recipes call for butter or shortening. However, I really like the texture that a mild flavored olive oil provides. It’s healthier than using butter. I am a butter lover, don’t get me wrong. A hot crusty piece of bread is not going to be without butter for me. But in the cake you don’t miss it. In fact, it’s even tastier. Give it a try next time your recipe calls for shortening, vegetable oil, or butter. You won’t be disappointed.

INGREDIENTS
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can of Pineapple rings, plus juice
6 Maraschino cherries
Half of Saucy Girl’s yellow cake recipe (or 1 yellow cake mix – You will only use ½ of the box!)
1 egg
1/3 cup of Pineapple juice
¼ cup olive oil

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour equal amounts of butter into 5 ramekins. Place equal amounts of brown sugar evenly over the butter in ramekins. Put the pineapple ring on top of the brown sugar and add the cherry into the center of the ring. If the pineapple ring is too big for your ramekin, no big deal, just cut a little piece out of the ring and form it into a circle again. Once you’ve prepared all the ramekins, place them on a baking sheet and set aside.

For the cake:
In a medium bowl add half of the boxed cake mix, the egg, pineapple juice, and olive oil. Whisk together until smooth, about 3 minutes.Gently pour even amounts of the cake batter over the pineapple ramekins.

Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until cake is golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.  Loosen any sides of cake that may be sticking to the ramekin. Place small plate on top of ramekin and invert cake onto plate, bottom up.

Delicious served with vanilla frozen yogurt! Yummy!! 

I made the red dot design on the plate by taking a little bit of the syrup and mixing it with a teaspoon of cherry jam (making sure not to get any cherry pieces in it). Once it was smooth I used a small spoon to place the drops around the plate.

INGREDIENTS
1 (750 ml) bottle of white wine
(I used Chardonnay, but just about any wine will do)
1 cup water
3/4 cup of sugar
4 whole cloves
4 whole allspice
1 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped
4 firm pears (Anjou, Bartlett, or Bosc) peeled leaving the stem intact

METHOD
Place the white wine, water, sugar, spices and vanilla bean (including the pulp) into a medium saucepan. Combine and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Peel the pears leaving the stems intact. Core the pears from the bottom.

Decrease the heat to medium-low and carefully place the pears into the liquid. Cover and gently cook for 30 minutes or until the pears are tender but not falling apart. Remove the pears and place upright on a serving dish. If you are serving the pears in an hour or so you can leave them out, if not place them in the refrigerator. I personally like my pears served room temperature.

Next we want to reduce that delicious syrup, which will take about 20 minutes on medium-high heat. Keep a watchful eye, to be sure that you don’t brown it. Once reduced, pour syrup through a strainer into a heatproof container. Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool for about an hour.

To serve: Place each pear upright on a serving plate. Spoon the sauce over the pears and serve with some whipped cream, if desired.