Fresh Fig, Walnut, and Rosemary Upside-Down Cake
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Author Notes: I created this Fresh Fig, Walnut, and Rosemary Upside-Down Cake recently when I had a surplus of lush California figs. The recipe is an adaptation from my late grandmother's famous pineapple upside-down cake recipe. The sweet, ripe figs become encased in a buttery brown sugar crust, while the savory rosemary and tangy lemon balance the cake's sweetness. - Food Blogga
Serves 8
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 10 fresh, ripe figs of your choice, tips removed, halved
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary, divided
- 2-3 tablespoons walnut pieces, or as much as needed
- 1 cup flour, sifted*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Position a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Add butter to a 9-inch-round baking pan, and place inside of a warm oven until melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the butter. Add figs, flesh side up, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the rosemary. Fill in the nooks and crannies with walnut pieces.
- In a medium bowl, combine sifted flour, baking powder and salt, and stir.
- Using a hand mixer, in a metal or glass bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until fluffy. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add lemon juice, zest, vanilla extract, and remaining 1 teaspoon rosemary, and beat well. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, and beat until well combined. Fold in the egg whites with a rubber spatula. Pour cake mixture evenly over the fruit, and smooth with the spatula.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Invert carefully onto a plate. Serve warm or at room temperature. *Note: Sifting the flour creates a lighter cake.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Fig Recipe
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about 1 month ago R S baker
Excellent cake, it make my friend with the excess figs very happy. I would try less brown sugar and may no rosemary. I am also going to try a pear/hazelnut variation
5 months ago Daryl G
Made this for a Christmas Eve party. It took some time to find figs but the dish was just outstanding. Everyone just loved it!
7 months ago Nanny Linn
Absolutly delicious! I followed the recipe to a "T" and was completely satisfied. It actually got better on the second and third day!
8 months ago HalfPint
Made this last night. Assembly was a breeze, but then disaster. After 40 minutes of baking, it looked done and toothpick came out clean, so I cooled as directed for 10 mins and then inverted onto large plate. Half the sugar had not caramelized and remained stuck in the pan. There was a lot of butter that had not caramelized with the brown sugar. Cooled for 10 minutes and inverted on to large plate. After 20 minutes cooling, I tried to cut a slice and found that the batter was still raw. So back into the pan and baked for another 20 minutes. The final product was a bit ugly because of the transport back into the pan for more baking. Flavor was good, but not enough cake which I was looking forward to. I used too many figs, because my figs were on the smallish side and I covered the bottom of the pan with it, but the pan was a regular 9" metal cake pan. So I don't know why the sugar didn't totally caramelize. Additionally, I think there's too much butter and sugar used for the glaze. I think this would work with half those amounts. I'll try it again soon with these adjustments.
11 months ago porchswing
made it tonight for guests. Absolutely delicious. The walnuts were buried too deep in the freezer, so I used raw pistachios. My fig tree produces small figs, so I used enough to cover the bottom of my cast iron skillet. Lovely as well as delicious.
over 1 year ago mpm6228
Delicious! And very beautiful. Unbelievably so even with accidental thyme for rosemary substitution.
over 1 year ago mpm6228
Mine is n the oven. Pine nuts subbed cause I had them. Interesting mistake:thyme instead of rosemary. To be conyined.
over 1 year ago mpm6228
Continued
almost 3 years ago aargersi
Abbie is a trusted source on General Cooking.
And now - 9 months later, I find myself with bowls full of gorgeous strawberry figs from my mother in laws trees and Foodblogga comes through with a recipe for me yet again!
over 3 years ago Skylor Powell
i love figs, sounds delicious!
over 3 years ago Janneke Verheij
I always have problems sticking to the recipes but yours was definitely a good inspiration. Beautiful pciture as well. If you want to see how my freestyle version came out:
http://limonana.wordpress...
over 3 years ago Oui, Chef
This looks really delicious, and will definitely have to make it into my Autumn dessert rotation. YUM!
over 3 years ago vvvanessa
gorgeous!