Sacramento Digs Gardening: A tasty way to celebrate fig season

Figs are a late-summer treasure. In Northern California, they reach their peak of ripeness in August and September.

How do you tell when a fig is truly ripe? Color is a clue; black mission figs live up to their name with deep black-purple skins. But green and yellow varieties keep their light color.

On the tree, tap the fruit lightly with your finger. If it gives, it's ready to pick. If it's rigidly firm, wait awhile.

At the farmers market, look for figs that are soft (but not mushy) and yielding to the touch. A ripe fig looks like it's beginning to crack a little or developing wrinkles.

As for what to do with a dozen (or so) ripe figs? This rustic cake is a delicious showcase, great with coffee or tea in the morning or topped with whipped cream or ice cream for dessert.

This version was adapted from a recipe in the New York Times, inspired by a bountiful Sonoma fig tree.
Another reminder: Good things grow in California.

Arrange figs cut side up over almond batter.

Fig almond cake

Adapted from the New York Times
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), melted and cooled
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 to 14 fresh figs, de-stemmed and halved
2 tablespoons Demerara or plain sugar
Butter to grease the pan

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9- to 10-inch pie or tart pan; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add 1/4 cup sugar, melted butter and vanilla or almond extract.

In another bowl, sift together almond flour, flour, baking powder and salt.

Add dry mixture to egg mixture and stir until batter is mixed, about 1 minute.

This cake bakes to golden brown in about 30 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Arrange fig halves in batter with cut side up. Sprinkle sugar over the top.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted near the center comes out dry.

Let cool before serving.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes fresh produce gardening Sacramento farmers markets Mission figs produce summer produce backyard produce produce management figs

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Food in My Back Yard Series

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting

Local News

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of April 20

Before possible showers at the end of the week, take advantage of all this nice sunshine – and get to work!

* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Give shrubs and trees a dose of a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!