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Fall

Fig, almond and ricotta cake

by:
September  5, 2016
5
2 Ratings
Photo by Silvia Merler
  • Makes one 8'' springform pan or a loaf pan
Author Notes

Figs are one of the reasons why I love fall. Especially when they are folded into a sweet and moist almond and ricotta cake, with a crunchy sugary crust! This cake works well also with other types of fruit (I really like it with apples too), but the fig-ricotta-almond combo is my absolute favorite. —Silvia Merler

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Ingredients
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 cup chopped fresh figs
  • 4-5 figs cut in half, to decorate the surface
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1/3 cup ricotta
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 8’’ spring form cake (or a loaf pan) and sprinkle the bottom and sides with sugar. This will give the cake a crunchy sugary crust.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the ricotta, beating well.
  3. Whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt. Add it to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated. Fold in the chopped figs mixing carefully.
  4. The batter should not be liquid but not too thick either, so if you think it is needed you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk.
  5. Spoon the batter in the pan, and top with the remaining figs cut in half, pressing them gently on the surface (but don't press them too much into the batter, or they will end up being entirely submerged when the cake raises). Sprinkle with a bit more sugar to get a crunchy crust and bake 60-70 minutes.
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8 Reviews

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Nora August 2, 2022
We have a bumper crop of figs coming along, and I found one more jar of last year's jam. I want to get it used up before the 2022 jars start filling up. I made this cake, substituting jam for figs in the batter. It came out very well. For company, I love to make a tall, beautiful Ocracoke Fig Cake (google it). For my husband and me, something a little simpler is perfect. Might add the buttermilk glaze next time, though.
LULULAND August 16, 2021
I just made this and wanted to give one to a friend that gave me some figs. It has a real good flavor, but it was only about an inch high. It would be too embarrassing to bring her as a gift! I am an experienced cook, so it wasn't me or my organic ingredients. What can I do to give it a much needed rise?
LolaInSF July 16, 2021
Made this today with mission figs fresh from my tree, and {cue the sad trombone} it never rose and was dense and gluey. My only diversions from the recipe were that I used low fat ricotta (bought by mistake) and almond flour (made from whole, unblanched almonds) because I couldn't find almond meal. Any thoughts as to what went wrong? I'm at about 2000 feet elevation, if that makes any difference.
monika October 2, 2020
This cake, on repeat, for the last six weeks. It's especially great if figs get away from me and are somewhat mushy. They do well in the batter and I can salvage them AND enjoy the cake. I like this cake so much, I've frozen two for Thanksgiving. The pieces of fig in the batter are like little jewels. I did modify it a bit by adding lemon zest but... totally a personal preferance. On some I scattered slivered almonds on top because I ate the figs that should have been adornment. This batter is a total winner and I'm hoping to sub other fruit but, for now, making four more fig cakes while figs are here. Thank you for a great recipe!
Stacey S. September 14, 2020
My cake baked perfectly with a high dome at 50 minutes (10 minutes shorter than recipe called for). I baked it in an 8" high sided tart pan w/ removable bottom.

My only complaint, not sweet enough w/ the 1/4 cup sugar for my taste. Next time I will increase it to 3/4 c sugar and add in more ricotta.

I brushed the top with warm honey to glaze it.....I think with some tweeks it would be the perfect little fig cake!
mary H. August 13, 2020
Can you freeze this cake
susan B. September 18, 2018
I have made this cake twice now and it tastes delicious. I am not getting much of a rise, though, and it looks rather flat. Any suggestions?
Lauren October 24, 2017
Can you use figs that have been frozen from fresh? They're already molding in my fridge after 48 hours. Was thinking of freezing them and then defrosting in the fridge prior to baking...