334. fig lemon cake

heavenly

The word heavenly can be used to describe both the cake I am about to post and also our stay in Montreal. We absolutely fell in love with the city with all its colours, culture, art and the french influence. People can be passionate and proud about their city and it was so apparent in Montreal. Clean, crisp air and all shades of orange, yellow, red and green were visible everywhere we went. Now I can understand why Canadian rave so much about autumn. The botanical garden was one of the most amazing gardens I have ever seen. Usually whenever we visit any place in India and one of the tourist sights is a botanical garden, we tend to just skip it. Take it from me, don’t miss any botanical site in Canada. We saw the most amazing mosaic culture pieces at the botanical garden. A tree full of different species of birds, a gorilla, chimpanzees, a man planting with his dog, butterfly, ladybirds, Japanese woman with a swan, etc etc. All these are created with patience, lots of planning, artistry and creativity just using different plants.

Autumn in Montreal

Botanical garden Montreal

I could take up the whole post just writing about Montreal, so getting back to my recipe for this post, I had always wanted to try out fresh fig cake but couldn’t as we don’t get fresh figs in Mombasa. So I had to tuck away the recipe in my recipe book for the right opportunity and it came in Montreal. Our first visit to the supermarket and I saw big luscious fresh figs. My mind went into a full speed mode and excitement. Bought the figs, a loaf tin and rest of the ingredients and baked it. Everyone ( my hubby, Neel and his friends) loved it when I served it as a dessert along with fresh whipped cream. My mouth is already watering and hoping to bake it again in Bangalore in December. Till I get the opportunity to bake it again, why don’t you try out the recipe. The fresh soft figs and a subtle taste of lemon is totally addictive.

FIG LEMON CAKE
For 6 to 8

1 cup all purpose flour (plain flour)
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp soda bicarbonate (baking soda)
½ cup sugar
4 tbsp softened butter
1 egg
1 tbsp grated lemon zest or rind
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup fresh plain yogurt
4 fresh figs cut into half
2 tbsp brown sugar for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a 9 inch loaf tin. I usually just grease it with butter and dust it with flour.
2. Sieve the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder and soda bicarbonate.
3. Cream butter and sugar till it is soft and creamy.
4. Add the egg and beat the mixture. Add the zest and vanilla extract and mix well.
5. Add flour and yogurt in batches, folding the batter gently. End with flour.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Smoothen the top gently with a spatula.
7. Place the figs on top of the batter with the cut side facing up. Gently push it a bit into the batter.
8. Sprinkle the top with the brown sugar.
9. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
10. Leave the cake in the pan for a 3 to 5 minutes.
11. Gently remove it and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Serve with vanilla ice cream, fresh whipped cream, creme fraiche or hot custard.

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