fig cake.

black mission figs....heat oven to 350...cut 10 figs in 1/2...work it.

organic unsalted butter...4 tablespoons melted...

add 1/2 cup brown sugar & 2 tbs. honey or agave....stir sauce in sauce pan...

butter 9" cake pan, line with natural parchment paper, butter all over

(paper and sides of pan), pour sauce in pan

20 cut figs...

ocean arranging figs on sauce..

what you will need:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup cane sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large brown eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

8 tablespoons of butter

in a medium bowl...whisk together all the dry: flour, powder, salt

in kitchen-aid or another bowl with electric mixer...beat butter, sugar,

vanilla until light in color & texture (almost whipped like) for baout 2-3 minutes...

add eggs - one at a time on low...then add dry ingredients in 3 parts..

adding milk 2 times in there too.. so after eggs are well mixed...

add some dry and some milk... mix... do it again and again...

spoon batter over figs evenly...bake for about 45 - 55 minutes..cool in pan for about 50 minutes....

hello september...yep. it's the beginning of so many things...(with the heat so thick & these southern california days filled with smoke day after day it feels like a never ending story over here with a bit of molasses on top)...with that said...fall is on it's way making a slow, back stage enterance with butternut squash & cool evenings here and there. and yes...there will be cashmere...wooly slippers (even here in los angeles...it does get cold...no, really, it does..) and there will be those warming foods that only serve to nourish every single cell in our hungry bodies...so much to look forward to and with that said...so much still growing (to share) before our favorite summer fruits take their last bow. here is another sweet on that path...an upside-down fig cake. i found this in a beautiful book that celebrates local farms & cooking: outstanding in the field. i feel a kindred connection to what jim is doing out in the field...bringing it from the farm to the table as i bring it from the farm to the kitchen....ocean helped me with this one as he arranged the cut figs onto the brown sugar, butter, agave sauce. we did a few substitutions ... we did agave intead of honey just because. oh and i used some earth balance with butter b/c i ran out! it turned out so good. it's like a pinapple cake... better with figs? let me know....see you in the kitchenxxx