I stood at the kitchen sink looking out onto the backyard.
“Why is Daddy dressed like that?” I asked Momma.
It is July and already hot at 7:30 in the morning. Why on earth would he be dressed in long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, boots and a large hat?
“He went out to pick figs,” she said as she stood at the kitchen island with a 10-pound bag of sugar and her largest pot.
When picking figs, it is important to protect your skin. The rough leaves and the fig sap can make sores on your skin if you don’t cover well. After picking the figs, I knew that Daddy would take a shower and use baking soda to scrub his skin to protect himself from getting sores.
“Yes, that’s right! It is just about the Fourth of July and that is when the figs are ripe,” I said, as I remembered that the holiday signaled time for fig picking and the making of fig preserves.
Most people think of fireworks, hot dogs, picnics and red, white and blue. But, here on the farm, it was just another harvest time, and this time it's figs.
The best thing about eating seasonally is that there was such anticipation and appreciation of the arrival of the different seasons and the bounty it brings. For us on the farm, figs were made into preserves and our yearly fig cake. Momma made it once a year and we truly enjoyed it.
This year has not brought many figs on the trees. Most of the fig trees in south Louisiana have died because of the snow that fell earlier this year. When you make your own preserves, you can store them for more than a year. If you don’t have a good crop one year, you can always tap into your reserved supplies.
The recipe that follows calls for 1 cup of fig preserves. Now, those preserves are precious. But, because it is a once-a-year treat, we don’t mind using that 1 cup for the cake.
I hope that you will give this cake a try. It has a wonderful caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and clove flavor, and it is super moist due to the buttermilk glaze.
Fig Preserve Cake
Makes 12 servings.
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup fig preserves, chopped
1 cup pecans
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and cloves in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add oil and beat well. Add eggs and beat well until incorporated. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix well.
4. Gently stir in the preserves and the pecans.
5. Pour the batter into the greased and floured pan and bake for 1 hour. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake. The cake is done when the inserted toothpick comes out clean when removed.
6. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Gently loosen the edges of the cake. Invert the cake onto a cake plate.
7. While the cake is still warm, glaze the cake with the buttermilk glaze.
Buttermilk Glaze
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1. Combine buttermilk, sugar, baking soda, cornstarch and butter in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Cool slightly and stir in vanilla.
3. Allow to cool to warm and brush glaze onto the warm cake with a pastry brush.