This cake is everything I love about Fall baking. The Fig cake with brown butter icing is unmatched when it comes to flavor and presentation. Don’t tell anyone, but the Figs steal the show here, and with very little effort on my part. I love to put fresh fruit and herbs on a cake to add elements of color, aroma and of course, flavor.
If you’re new to fresh milled flour or unsure what this is, here is some more information to help you get started!
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Let me help you plan the day of baking…
Start by making your candied sage leaves, those need to dry overnight.
You can make your cake the day before to let it cool completely, but it’s not necessary. Just allow enough time to let it cool completely. Usually an hour or two is sufficient.
While the cake bakes and cools, you will make your icing!
Table of Contents
Equipment needed to make a Fig cake with brown butter icing
- Grain Mill
- Stand Mixer
- Digital Scale
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- 3- 9″ Round cake pans
- Sheet pan
- Serrated knife
- Sifter
- Rubber Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- 1 Small Sauce Pans
- Pastry Brush
- Cake icing spatula, small offset spatula and bowl scraper or dough blade.
- Pastry bag
Fig cake with brown butter icing Ingredients
Cake
- Soft White Wheat Berries-You can also use Einkorn, Spelt or Soft Red Wheat. Try different grains, you will be surprised which end up being your favorite.
- Sugar
- Salt–Redmond’s Real salt is all I use!
- Eggs
- Greek Yogurt– you can also use sour cream
- Coconut Oil
- Milk
- Nutmeg
- Cardamom
- Vanilla Extract
Bourbon Apple Cider Glaze
- Apple Cider
- Bourbon
You can leave the bourbon out and still glaze the cake with apple cider or even a simple syrup
Icing
- Butter-room temperature
- Vanilla Extract
Garnishes and filling
- Sage Leaves-Fresh
- Thyme Sprigs
- Sugar
- Egg Whites
- Figs-fresh
- Fig preserves
How to make components of the Fig cake with brown butter icing
Start your garnishes first-or better yet make the day before
- Whisk one egg white in a small bowl
2. Place sage leaves into the egg whites to moisten. With your thumb and forefinger, press the excess liquid out of the leaves.
3. In another small bowl, add sugar. Toss the damp sage leaves in the sugar until coated.
4. Place in a shallow dish or tupperware container on the counter. Lightly cover to prevent bugs from getting to them, but not completely, preventing airflow.
5. Allow to dry 8-12 hours.
The thyme leaves I left as is. You could sugar them this same way if you prefer. The figs I split in half or quarters.
This fig cake with brown butter icing may seem like a long process, but it is so worth it.
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mill your soft white wheat berries into flour. Sift the flour separating the bran out and place in a small glass bowl.
- To the bran, add your milk and allow to sit and soften for 20 minutes.
- To the rest of the flour, add baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cardamom. Set aside.
- To the stand mixer, add your eggs white and whip to soft peaks. Remove and set aside.
- Now, to the empty stand mixer, add yogurt, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Place your coconut oil on the stove in a small sauce pan to melt.
- Slowly sprinkle in the flour and additional dry ingredients to your yogurt mixture in the mixer. Alternately add the melted coconut oil.
- Finally add your milk and bran to the mixer.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the egg whites, just until combined.
- Prepare 3, 9″ pans by cutting parchment rounds to fit the bottom of the pan. Spray with oil to coat the sides and parchment.
- Divide your batter evenly between the 3 pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.
- Sometimes I make my cake and garnishes the day before.
Bourbon and Apple Cider Glaze
- While the cake bakes, make your glaze and icing.
- Place bourbon and apple cider in a small saucepan on the stove.
- Simmer for 25-30 minutes until it is reduced by half and the alcohol is cooked off.
- Place into a glass dish or jar to cool.
Brown Butter icing
- In a small sauce pan place 2 of the 4 sticks of butter.
- Turn to medium heat and stir every couple of minutes. Your butter will start to bubble and brown.
- Do not walk away or this will burn easily! It should take 5-10 minutes for your butter to brown.
- Once it is browned, pour into a shallow glass dish to cool.
- In your stand mixer, add the remaining 2 sticks of room temperature butter and room temperature brown butter, beat until smooth.
- Sift powdered sugar and slowly add to the butter.
- If your icing is soft, pop it in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to stiffen.
Assembling the Fig cake with brown butter icing
- Glaze your cakes and cut off the tops: Remove cakes from the pan and place on a flat surface with the domed side of the cake facing up. I like to do this on my turntable. Take your serrated knife and work your way around the perimeter of the cake, gently pressing in further each time around, until you get to the center of the cake top and have a level cake!
- With a squirt bottle or pastry brush, generously coat each layer with the bourbon apple cider glaze before you assemble your cake. For this recipe, you could use just apple cider if you prefer to leave out the bourbon, or even just a simple syrup.
- Place one layer of the cake onto a cake plate or cardboard round. Scoop some icing onto the cake and create a thin layer of icing to coat the cake. If you are doing the “naked iced” technique I used, make sure you do a slightly thicker layer of icing between the layers. Using a pastry bag filled with the icing, squirt a ring around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with a generous portion of the fig preserves.
- Repeat this step with the second layer of cake.
- Top with the third layer of cake.
- Take your spatula and apply a thin layer of icing around the sides and top if the cake, called a crumb coat.
- Place in the refrigerator for 15-20 mintues to allow the icing to set up so your layers don’t shift while icing.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and add more icing to the sides and top of the cake just slightly. I love to leave a little cake showing through to achieve this “naked cake” design.
- You can take some of your fig preserves and add some of the glaze to thin it out and drizzle down the sides like I did in this photo. Get creative with your decorations and garnishing.
- HERE is a video of how I iced and assembled the Fig Cake with Brown butter icing, but use your creativity here!
Fig Cake with brown butter icing
Equipment
- serrated knife
- 1 small sauce pan
- 2 Small Bowl
- Cake Spatulas
- Pastry Bag
Ingredients
Garnishes and Fig filling
- 10 Sage leaves
- 1 egg white
- 1/4 cup sugar granulated
- 10 oz Jar of Fig preserves
- 10 sprig thyme leaves
- 6-8 Fresh Figs
Bourbon and Apple Cider glaze
- 1 cup apple cider
- 1/4 cup Bourbon
Spiced Cake
- 3 1/2 cups soft white wheat flour 517 g
- 2 cups sugar, granulated 475 g
- 1 cup greek yogurt 255 g
- 1 cup milk
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 4 eggs divided
- 1 1/2 cups coconut oil, melted 326 g
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp Redmonds Real Salt
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp Cardamom
Brown Butter Buttercream
- 1 pound butter unsalted, divided
- 6 cups powdered sugar sifted
Simple Syrup Glaze (optional-for glazing cakes)
- 1 cup sugar granulated
- 1 cup water
Instructions
Garnishes
- Whisk one egg white in a small bowl
- Place sage leaves into the egg whites to moisten. With your thumb and forefinger, press the excess liquid out of the leaves.
- In another small bowl, add sugar. Toss the damp sage leaves in the sugar until coated.
- Place in a shallow dish or tupperware container on the counter. Lightly cover to prevent bugs from getting to them, but not completely, preventing airflow.
- Allow to dry 8-12 hours.
Spiced Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350 ℉
- Mill your soft white wheat berries into flour. Sift the flour separating the bran out and place in a small glass bowl.
- To the bran, add your milk and allow to sit and soften for 20 minutes.
- To the rest of the flour, add baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cardamom. Set aside.
- To the stand mixer, add your eggs white and whip to soft peaks. Remove and set aside.
- Now, to the empty stand mixer, add yogurt, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Place your coconut oil on the stove in a small sauce pan to melt.
- Slowly sprinkle in the flour and additional dry ingredients to your yogurt mixture in the mixer. Alternately add the melted coconut oil.
- Finally add your milk and bran to the mixer.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the egg whites, just until combined.
- Divide your batter evenly between the 3 pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.
Bourbon and Apple Cider Glaze
- While the cake bakes, make your glaze and icing.
- Place bourbon and apple cider in a small saucepan on the stove.
- Simmer for 25-30 minutes until it is reduced by half and the alcohol is cooked off.
- Place into a glass dish or jar to cool.
Brow Butter Icing
- In a small sauce pan place 2 of the 4 sticks of butter.
- Turn to medium heat and stir every couple of minutes. Your butter will start to bubble and brown.
- Do not walk away or this will burn easily! It should take 5-10 minutes for your butter to brown.
- Once it is browned, pour into a shallow glass dish to cool. Be sure to scrape all of the dark brown bits out of your pan.
- In your stand mixer, add the remaining 2 sticks of room temperature butter and room temperature brown butter, beat until smooth.
- Sift powdered sugar and slowly add to the butter.
- If your icing is too soft to ice with, place in the refrigerator for 5-10minutes to stiffen up before icing the cake.
Assembling the Fig and Brown Butter icing Cake
- Glaze your cakes and cut off the tops: Remove cakes from the pan and place on a flat surface with the domed side of the cake facing up. I like to do this on my turntable. Take your serrated knife and work your way around the perimeter of the cake, gently pressing in further each time around, until you get to the center of the cake top and have a level cake!
- With a squirt bottle or pastry brush, generously coat each layer with the bourbon apple cider glaze before you assemble your cake. For this recipe, you could use just apple cider if you prefer to leave out the bourbon, or even just a simple syrup.
- Place one layer of the cake onto a cake plate or cardboard round. Scoop some icing onto the cake and create a thin layer of icing to coat the cake. If you are doing the "naked iced" technique I used, make sure you do a slightly thicker layer of icing between the layers. Using a pastry bag filled with the brown butter icing, squirt a ring around the edge of the cake. Fill the center with a generous portion of the fig preserves.
- Repeat this step with the second layer of cake.
- Top with the third layer of cake.
- Take your spatula and apply a thin layer of icing around the sides and top if the cake, called a crumb coat.
- Place in the refrigerator for 15-20 mintues to allow the icing to set up so your layers don't shift while icing.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and add more icing to the sides and top of the cake just slightly. I love to leave a little cake showing through to achieve this "naked cake" design.
- Get creative with how you finish the cake design here. Create a textured look to your icing and add the fruit, sugared sage and thyme to the top of the cake. Thin out some of the fig preserves with your apple cider and bourbon glaze and drizzle it down the sides. Get creative!
Nutrition
Frequently asked questions about Fig cake with brown butter icing
Do I really have to glaze the cake?
You can certainly do whatever you’d like here. I have done cakes for 20 years and always glazed my cakes to keep them moist longer. If you are wanting to skip this step, I would warn you the cake will dry out faster.
Can I adjust the spices in the cake?
Of course! Not everyone loves nutmeg and cardamom, and you’re welcome to leave that out, or substitute for another fall spice. This is your cake, make it with whatever spices you like!
How do I store my cake?
I keep mine on the counter for 3 days under a cake dome. Any longer, you will want to put in an airtight container in the fridge. I do let it come back to room temperature before eating.
Tips and Tricks:
Do not over bake your cake! You want to watch it and bake just until the toothpick comes out clean.
Purchase a turntable if you are enjoying icing and decorating cakes! It’s the easiest way to ice and decorate a cake with minimal cost!
THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for trying this recipe, I hope you love this Fig cake with brown butter icing as much as my family does. If you make this recipe, please share and tag me on Instagram or Facebook! And, please leave a comment or star rating below. I love to see everyone be successful in the journey to a healthier lifestyle with fresh milled flour! Don’t hesitate to contact me with any question, chances are we will both learn something from us working through it together!
Happy Baking!
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