Upside Down Fig And Hazelnut Cake Food

UPSIDE-DOWN FRESH FIG CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan with 2-inch sides. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter the parchment.
• In a small saucepan over medium-low heat or in the microwave, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter. Stir in the brown sugar and honey until smooth. Pour the sauce into the prepared cake pan. Arrange the figs, cut sides down, in concentric circles over the sauce. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the remaining 8 tablespoons butter with sugar and vanilla until lightened in color and texture, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating until well combined after each. Beating on low speed just until combined after each addition, add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk in 2 parts. Spoon the batter evenly over the figs.
• Bake the cake until golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool in the pan for 50 minutes.
• Run a thin knife around the sides of the pan to loosen. Place a serving platter on top of the pan and invert the cake. Gently lift off the pan and remove the parchment paper. Spoon over the cake any of the sauce that has run off, and serve warm.

SPICED FIG, COFFEE & HAZELNUT CAKE

Steps:

• First, make the sponge. Put the dried figs in a bowl and pour over the coffee. Leave to soak for 30 mins. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the hazelnuts onto a baking tray and toast in the oven for 5-8 mins until golden brown and aromatic. Tip 75g of the nuts into a food processor (set aside the rest for later) and leave to cool for 10 mins. Meanwhile grease the base and sides of a 20 x 30cm rectangular cake tin with butter and line with baking parchment.
• Whizz the cooled nuts until finely chopped. Add the soaked figs and any remaining coffee, and whizz again to a paste. Add the remaining sponge ingredients to the processor with a good pinch of salt. Blend until well combined, scraping down the sides once or twice and blending again. Scrape into your cake tin, level the surface and bake for 25 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then flip onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment and leave to cool.
• While the cake cools, make the icing. Put the butter, vanilla and half the sugar in a large bowl. Roughly mash together with a spatula, then blend with an electric hand whisk until smooth. Add the cream cheese and the remaining icing sugar, mash, then blend again until smooth. Split the icing into 2 batches, one for layering and a crumb coat, and one for a final coat. You can chill the icing while the cake cools, but remove it from the fridge 15 mins before using to bring back to room temperature.
• Now assemble the cake. Transfer the cooled cake to a chopping board. Score the sponge at 10cm intervals along the length of the cake, marking out 3 sections, 20 x 10cm each. Cut through, then stack the cakes on top of each other to check they are the same size. Trim any uneven edges, then unstack.
• Put 1 sponge on a cake board or plate. Spread with a little icing and 3 tbsp fig jam, keeping the jam about 1cm from the edges. Top with another sponge, more icing and jam, then sandwich with the final sponge. Use a palette knife to cover the entire cake with the remaining first batch of icing (the crumb coat) - don't worry if it's a little messy. Make sure you fill any gaps between the layers with icing. Once covered, chill for at least 30 mins to firm up the icing. Chill the remaining icing too, but bring it out of the fridge 10-15 mins before the cake so it is ready for spreading.
• Decorate the cake. Remove it from the fridge and cover with the remaining icing. Use a palette knife to create smooth edges, or leave it fairly rough, if you like. Top the cake with the figs, pointy ends up. Put the caramel in a small piping bag, snip off the corner and drizzle over the top of the cake, encouraging it down the sides (or just drizzle it over with a spoon). Roughly chop the remaining toasted nuts and scatter over the top. Serve in slices with extra figs on the side, if you like. Keep leftovers in the fridge for 3 days, but bring to room temperature before eating.

UPSIDEDOWN HAZELNUT BANANA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the cake pan.
• Toast the nuts and let them cool completely.
• In a food processor, grind the nuts with the sugar until very fine.
• Using a hand-held mixer, cream the butter; then add the sugar mixture. Add the eggs and mix. Add the sour cream and vanilla and stir. Mix in the banana puree. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt to make a smooth batter.
• To bake, cover the bottom of the cake pan with some of the warmed hazelnut schmear (microwave 40 seconds or so). Fan some banana slices over it and spoon in the batter.
• Bake until just set, about 35 to 40 minutes. Keep warm in a low oven and turn it out at the last minute.
• Melt the butter. Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar and the nuts. Store in the refrigerator.

FIG CAKES WITH SWEET RICOTTA

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the butter into a pot and cook, stirring, until it browns. Remove from the heat and let cool, but not to the point that it solidifies, about 5 minutes.
• Whip the eggs and egg yolks together with the granulated sugar until thick and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl, then fold into the whipped egg mixture. Add the butter and mix until incorporated. Add the sour cream, milk and vanilla seeds and mix until it comes together. Transfer to a piping bag.
• Spray two 12-cup muffin tins generously with cooking spray. Arrange the sliced figs in the muffin cups (overlapping is okay). Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons brown sugar on top of each. Fill the muffin cups with the cake batter about three-quarters of the way full. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the edges comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the muffin cups.
• For the sweet ricotta: Meanwhile, put the ricotta in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and let drain for 30 minutes. Discard the liquid. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Reserve until ready to serve.
• Serve the cakes with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and dollops of sweet ricotta. Garnish with quartered figs if using.