Fig Cake with brown butter icing
This fig cake with brown butter icing is everything I love about fall! Warm spices, fresh fruit and herbs.
Servings 20 slices
Calories 695kcal
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan
- 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.
- 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.
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
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 695kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 37.95g | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 60g