Make Ahead

Chocolate Fig Cake

by:
October  9, 2009
0
0 Ratings
Chocolate Fig Cake
  • Serves 8
Author Notes

I've been obsessed with trying an olive oil cake for some time. Instead of a more basic olive oil cake, I came up with this decadent version with cocoa and figs. You can probably use regular all-purpose flour if you don't have access to the blanched almond flour, but you might want to reduce the flour to 2 1/2 cups in that case...try it with the almond flour if you can, though- it makes a dense and delicious cake that meshes well with the chewy figs. —WinnieAb

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 cup dried figs, chopped
  • 1/3 cup brandy
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder, preferably organic
  • 3 cups blanched almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 4 eggs
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously oil a 9 inch springform pan with olive oil and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or waxed paper. Oil the paper and dust it lightly with flour.
  2. In a small saucepan, boil the figs with the brandy for several minutes, until the liquid has cooked off. Set aside to cool.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients (sugar through salt). Add the olive oil, mix well, and then the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add the cooled figs and mix until combined.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of the oven until a toothpick comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Put the pan on a rack and carefully run a paring knife around the inside edge to release the cake. Let cool for 10 min. Using a second rack to sandwich the cake pan, flip the pan over. Carefully lift the pan from the cake, gently peel off and discard the paper liner, and let the cake cool completely before serving with the optional dusting of confectioner's sugar.
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  • Jeff Potter
    Jeff Potter
  • Christina
    Christina
  • Peter Pan
    Peter Pan
  • geegers
    geegers
WinnieAb
I grew up in a restaurant family (my parents owned the now closed Quilted Giraffe in NYC) and I've always loved to cook. My interest in the connection between food and health led me to pursue a graduate degree in naturopathic medicine. I don't practice medicine anymore; I have a blog called Healthy Green Kitchen that I started in May of 2009 and I wrote a book called One Simple Change that will be published in January, 2014. I live in upstate New York with my family and many pets.

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4 Reviews

Christina
Christina September 23, 2016
I have a bunch of fresh figs...can I substitute do you think? Chop and just measure out the cups worth...? What do you think?
 
Jeff P.
Jeff P. September 29, 2016
Hi Christina,

Fresh figs would have much more water than dried figs, so would change the moisture content in the cake (probably making it gummy / heavy). You might be able to skip the 1/3 cup brandy to reduce the moisture levels, but then... it'd be a different cake. You could try drying your figs, if you don't mind the extra work and time!
 
Peter P.
Peter P. April 20, 2013
I think apple juice would be fine instead of brandy.
 
geegers
geegers December 10, 2012
this looks delicious and i can't wait to try it. but if i don't want to use alcohol, do you have suggestions for a substitute? maybe prune juice or apple juice? thanks!