Fig

Ricotta-Rosemary Cake With Fresh Figs

by:
September 24, 2018
4.3
16 Ratings
Ricotta-Rosemary Cake With Fresh Figs
Photo by Jenny Huang
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 45 minutes
  • Makes One 9-inch cake
Author Notes

Serving a single-layer cake is the ultimate way to seem effortlessly cool. They don’t require frosting or fancy decorations to make a splash. As long as the top has something exciting going on—in this case, fresh figs, whipped cream, and crunchy rosemary sugar—you don’t need anything else. This one is made in just two bowls, and you don’t have to struggle with creaming butter and sugar together. It’s also flexible, so feel free to use whatever fruit is in season in place of fresh figs. —Jesse Szewczyk

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (plus more for greasing pan)
  • 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 1/2 cups pastry flour
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 cups fresh figs, quartered and divided
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. Combine turbinado sugar and chopped rosemary in a small bowl. Using your fingers, gently massage the rosemary into the sugar. Set aside.
  3. Sift flour, 1 cup of granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, ricotta, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and melted butter. Add cheese mixture to flour mixture and stir until smooth. (Batter will be very thick.)
  4. Transfer batter into prepared pan, smooth out the top with a spatula. Sprinkle with half of the prepared rosemary sugar and scatter half of the figs over top. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool completely.
  5. As the cake is cooling, combine remaining 2 teaspoons granulated sugar and heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on medium speed until cream is light and airy, about 45 seconds.
  6. Dollop whipped cream in the center of the cake and top with remaining figs and rosemary sugar.
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14 Reviews

Ginny
Ginny August 1, 2023
Should this cake be baked in a springform pan? Wouldn’t that make it easier to get it out of the pan? Looks delicious & I’m anxious to try it!
 
Amanda L.
Amanda L. September 3, 2022
Best cake particularly for those who aren’t big dessert people - or at least very sweet desserts. I’ve made it at least 4 times now. It is my go to dessert especially in fig season, but I’ve also subbed gooseberries when I couldn’t get fresh figs.
 
Celeste
Celeste August 9, 2022
Absolutely delicious! But be sure to wait till the cake is completely cool before adding the whipped cream and add more of the figs to the batter!
 
Ann O.
Ann O. October 29, 2021
Made this last night - have been waiting for fresh figs and it was worth the wait! The consistency of the cake is excellent. It is moist and tender. I was curious about the rosemary with fruit and it turned out to be a great combination. I will definitely make this again and will try other fruits. I have added this recipe to our family cookbook.
 
NXL
NXL August 27, 2021
Decided to make this after buying some pretty tasteless Brown Turkey Figs. This fixed the problem! Not an overly sweet cake and the rosemary flavor is very subtle. It even worked with some ricotta I took from the freezer. Won't make that mistake again. 😊
 
beth
beth January 14, 2021
Wonderful cake. I've made it 4 times now with pear/blueberry, plum/blueberry, almost any fruit would be great. Like it the next day even better. Somehow tastes cheesier. Fantastic recipe!!
 
lahspf
lahspf September 14, 2020
This is absolutely delicious, and it has the added advantage of being fairly easy to make. The cake has a wonderful texture and a bright taste with a hint of lemon. The rosemary is subtle and a nice enhancement. I did make one change and I arranged most of the figs over the top of the batter and reserved only a few for garnish. It's also a very pretty cake with the figs on top. It took longer than 45 minutes for mine to be set in the middle and I put foil around the outer edges to keep it from getting too brown. Do yourself a favor and try this delicious cake!
 
lahspf
lahspf September 14, 2020
This is absolutely delicious, and it has the added advantage of being fairly easy to make. The cake has a wonderful texture and a bright taste with a hint of lemon. The rosemary is subtle and a nice enhancement. I did make one change and I arranged most of the figs over the top of the batter and reserved only a few for garnish. It's also a very pretty cake with the figs on top. It took longer than 45 minutes for mine to be set in the middle and I put foil around the outer edges to keep it from getting too brown. Do yourself a favor and try this delicious cake!
 
Juliane
Juliane August 24, 2020
This was absolutely amazing!! Dense& moist& the fig w/ rosemary was delicious!!! Thank u! Had figs off a friends tree:)
 
LanaR
LanaR October 16, 2019
Can the cake be made ahead of time? A week before and frozen?
 
Catherine R.
Catherine R. October 12, 2018
Sooo I really want to try this but this recipe is CONFUSING. If I read correctly in the beginning, we need to put 1 cup of the sugar in the batter, and then reserve the remaining 2 tbsp for the whipped cream, yes? Sooo...where does the sugar for this part come in? “Sprinkle half the rosemary sugar and scatter half the figs over the top of the cake”. Please help I want to make this for a friend’s birthday!
 
andrea S.
andrea S. October 15, 2018
It says combine the 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar with the rosemary. It appears that the granulated sugar is used in the batter (1 cup) and the whipped cream (2 Tbsp, although the text in #5 says 2 tsp which seems like not enough).
 
dsw
dsw October 7, 2018
How much rosemary? Not listed in recipe
 
andrea S.
andrea S. October 15, 2018
It says 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary in the recipe. (3rd ingredient)