Walnut and Fig Cake is a traditional British recipe for a classic cake incorporating walnuts and fresh figs in the batter. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Walnut and Fig Cake.
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This is a modern update of the traditional tea-time cake using fresh figs rather than dried. This is a rich and moist cake that goes well with tea of coffee, but which is also a wonderful dessert cake served with cold custard.
Ingredients:
6 eggs, separated
150g (3/4 cup) golden caster sugar
100g (1 cup) walnuts
100g (4/5 cup) self-raising flour
50g (2/5 cup) fresh white breadcrumbs
10 green cardamom pods
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Finely-grated zest of 1 orange
75ml (5 tbsp) orange juice
6 medium figs, stems removed and figs halved
Method:
Line the base and sides of a 20cm (8 in) square cake tin with baking parchment.
Combine the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Beat with a balloon whisk or electric whisk until pale and thick (at least 5 minutes). Chop the walnuts coarsely (easiest done in a food processor; and make sure not to chop too finely as they need to be coarser than breadcrumbs). Combine in a bowl with the ground almonds, breadcrumbs and then the flour (in that order).
Extract the seeds from the cardamom pods and render to a powder (either in a mortar or a spice/coffee grinder). Add to the nut mix along with the cinnamon and lemon zest. Beat the orange juice into the egg yolk mixture.
Place the egg whites in a clean and dry bowl and beat with a balloon whisk until almost stiff. Stir the nut mixture into the egg yolk mixture then fold in the egg whites, mixing gently with a metal spoon until no flecks of white can be seen; but be gentle so you don’t knock the trapped air out of the whites.
Gently turn the batter into the prepared cake tin then carefully push the fig halves, cut side uppermost, into the batter --- spacing them evenly. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the sponge is golden and springy to the touch.
Warm the honey in a small pan then remove the cake from the oven and pierce it in about 20 places with a skewer. Pour the liquid honey all over the cake, allowing it to drizzle into the holes. Set the cake aside to cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
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