Rosemary Orange Honey Fig Cake

This cake was extremely fun to make for many reasons. Top 4 reasons:

1. My roomie found this recipe and wanted to be my baking assistant for it (and he was very good. I might hire him!) ;)

2. We used figs that our landlord gave us from his tree! Thanks Charlie!

3. I had an excuse to buy a springform pan!

4. Raw honey, figs, butter...all glistening in a saucepan. See below.

Lovely, right?

I also enjoyed that this recipe used orange zest and rosemary together. It smelled great and reminded me of the Buttered Rosemary & Orange Nuts recipe.

I've also seen a lot of shares online via pinterest, facebook, etc about fig cakes. And I can see why. Fig cakes are so cheery and a perfect dessert to transition from summer into fall.

My roomie and I will be enjoying this all weekend long. (We even left a couple of slices for our landlord.) 

Have a good weekend! Bake a cake! With Figs!

Rosemary Orange Honey Fig Cake (from seriouseats)

Ingredients

Baking spray
2 1/2 cups (about 12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (about 5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons grated zest from 1 orange
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey (I used raw)
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
12 figs, stems trimmed and quartered lengthwise
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup honey (I used raw honey)

Instructions
For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9-inch round springform pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Pulse sugar, rosemary, and orange zest in food processor until no zest strands remain and rosemary is coarsely chopped (see note above).

In large bowl, beat butter, oil, and rosemary-orange sugar on medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add honey and beat just until incorporated.

Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Increase speed to medium and beat mixture just until combined, 20 to 30 seconds. Add vanilla and beat once more, just to combine, about 10 seconds.

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating cake halfway through baking. Transfer cake to cooling rack set inside baking sheet and cool in pan 10 minutes.

Release springform and invert cake onto cooling rack; remove bottom of springform. Invert cake once again and cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the Figs and Assembly: Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat and cook until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add figs and season with salt and pepper. Cook until figs soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in honey and remove from heat.

With a knife (serrated is best), slice about 1/8 inch off top of cake. Spoon figs and any released juices on top of cake. Serve.

Bake well and prosper!