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A tasty way to celebrate fig season

Recipe: Fig almond cake is a rustic treat

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED AUG 30, 2020

This rustic fig cake is good anytime. (Photos: Debbie Arrington) Debbie Arrington

Figs are a late-summer treasure. In Northern California, they reach their peak of ripeness in August and September.

How do you tell when a fig is truly ripe? Color is a clue; black mission figs live up to their name with deep black-purple skins. But green and yellow varieties keep their light color.

On the tree, tap the fruit lightly with your finger. If it gives, it's ready to pick. If it's rigidly firm, wait awhile.

At the farmers market, look for figs that are soft (but not mushy) and yielding to the touch. A ripe fig looks like it's beginning to crack a little or developing wrinkles.

As for what to do with a dozen (or so) ripe figs? This rustic cake is a delicious showcase, great with coffee or tea in the morning or topped with whipped cream or ice cream for dessert.

This version was adapted from a recipe in the New York Times, inspired by a bountiful Sonoma fig tree.
Another reminder: Good things grow in California.

Arrange figs cut side up over almond batter.

Fig almond cake

Adapted from the New York Times
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), melted and cooled
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 to 14 fresh figs, de-stemmed and halved
2 tablespoons Demerara or plain sugar
Butter to grease the pan

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9- to 10-inch pie or tart pan; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add 1/4 cup sugar, melted butter and vanilla or almond extract.

In another bowl, sift together almond flour, flour, baking powder and salt.

Add dry mixture to egg mixture and stir until batter is mixed, about 1 minute.

This cake bakes to golden brown in about 30 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Arrange fig halves in batter with cut side up. Sprinkle sugar over the top.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted near the center comes out dry.

Let cool before serving.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes fresh produce gardening Sacramento farmers markets Mission figs produce summer produce backyard produce produce management figs

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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