Recipe: Easy cake can be gluten-free, too
This fig cake is more of a rustic torte, with its ground-almond base. Enjoy with morning coffee or, as here, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert. Kathy Morrison
Fig season is fleeting. The best fruit is ripe just as summer as ending, but "pumpkin spice" everything tends to crowd it off the seasonal stage.
This little cake -- which also could be called a torte -- features fresh figs in a base of ground almonds. Spiced with cardamom and gently scented with orange zest, it's delicious for brunch or dessert.
The recipe can easily be made gluten-free by subbing out the 1/4 cup all-purpose flour for coconut flour or any cup-for-cup gluten-free blend.
I used the raw almonds called for in the recipe, grinding them up in my food processor. But readers' notes on the original NY Times recipe indicated that almond flour can be substituted, but at a slightly higher volume, so I included that as an alternative.
And if you're not into figs, any other summer or early fall orchard fruit can be used. I think pear slices would be particularly good.
Fig and almond cake
Adapted from NYT Cooking
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more butter for the pan
1 cup raw (not blanched) almonds, or 1-1/4 cups almond flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more (or coarse or Demerara sugar) for sprinkling on top
1/4 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free alternative
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional but preferred)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cardamom or allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons honey or agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
12 to 14 ripe figs
Instructions:
Butter a 9-inch springform pan, fluted tart pan or pie plate and set aside. (If you intend to remove the cake from the entire pan before serving, cut out a circle of parchment paper, place it inside the buttered pan, then butter the paper.) Heat oven to 375 degrees.
If using the raw almonds, place them and 1/4 cup sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until the mixture becomes a coarse powder (see photo). Add all-purpose flour, orange zest (if using), baking powder, spices and salt. Pulse until just combined.
Alternatively, whisk together the almond flour and sugar in a large bowl, then whisk in the all-purpose flour and other ingredients above.
In a bowl or large measuring cup, combine the beaten eggs, the melted butter, honey or agave and almond extract. Blend in the dry mixture, beating until just combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
De-stem the figs and slice in half, or in quarters if they're large. (My cake had halves of black Mission figs and quarters of green Kadota figs.) Arrange figs cut side up on the top of the batter. Sprinkle cake with 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (Demerara sugar is nice if you have it).
Bake cake for 30 minutes, until golden on top and just dry at the center when tested. Cool for about 10 minutes, then remove outer edge of springform or tart pan, and let cool the rest of the way. (To remove completely, place a cooling rack or plate on top of the cake, flip it, and remove the bottom of the pan, then flip back.)
Alternatively, cut and serve warm, with ice cream if desired.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
SUMMER
July 15: Does this plant need water?
July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
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
WINTER
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
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Garden checklist for week of July 13
Put off big chores and planting until later in the week when the weather is cooler. In the meantime, remember to stay hydrated – advice for both you and your garden.
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.
* Give vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.
* Add some summer color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers. Plant Halloween pumpkins now.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
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