Spanish Fig Cake Food

SPANISH FIG & ALMOND BALLS

Steps:

• Whizz the almonds in a food processor until most are finely chopped, then tip into a large bowl. Roughly chop the figs, then whizz to a smooth sticky paste. Scrape onto the almonds then, using your hands, mix together well with the dried fruit, brandy, honey and cloves.
• Divide the mixture into 6 and roll into balls. Tip the sesame seeds onto a tray, then roll the balls in them until covered. Cover the tray loosely with a clean tea towel, then leave the fig balls to dry for a week before packaging. Will keep in a cool place for 2 months.

FRESH FIG CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with the sugar until fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add flour mixture alternately with the evaporated milk. Fold in vanilla and almond extracts and 1 cup chopped figs.
• Divide into two prepared 8-inch round cake pans. Bake in preheated oven until cake springs back when lightly touched with a fingertip and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool cake layers on wire rack.
• To make the filling: In a saucepan, combine 2 cups chopped figs, brown sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 20 minutes. Spread thinly between cooled cake layers and on top.

PAN DE HIGO

Steps:

• Chop almonds coarsely. Process figs almost to a puree. With your hands, combine figs, almonds, honey and port until it all holds together. At this point, you can press the mixture into a pan and weight it down or form into small balls. Let sit for one week. Keeps a long time wrapped at room temperature
• N.B.: Some recipes call for the addition of other dried fruits, such as apricots or cranberries. You may also add cinnamon and anise seed(ground) as flavorings. Some recipes call for rolling the prepared balls in sesame seeds. Do what pleases you! ¡Buen provecho!

SPANISH FIG CAKE

Steps:

• Equipment:cutting boardparing knifemeasuring cupsfood processorrubber spatulaserving plateTrim the stems off the figs with a paring knife. Put the almonds and walnuts in a food processor fitted with the S blade and process until coarsely chopped. Add the figs and process until the mixture sticks together. Transfer to a serving plate and form into a cake, 5 inches in diameter. Decorate the cake and plate with fresh berries before serving if desired. Covered with plastic wrap, Spanish Fig Cake will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator or 2 weeks in the freezer. Bring to room temperature before serving.Spanish Date Cake: Replace the figs with pitted medjool dates, unsoaked.