Ocracoke Island Fig Cake

Step 1

Place the chopped figs in a medium-sized saucepan and stir them together with ½ cup of the sugar, the lemon slices and the ⅔ cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

Step 2

Cover and simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes until it is thickened, stirring it often to prevent the figs from sticking to the bottom. Remove the pan from heat and discard the lemon slices.

Step 3

Pour the contents into a heatproof bowl and allow the jam to cool. This will make about 1½ cups (13 ounces) of quicky fig jam.

Step 4

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan.

Step 5

Beat the eggs in a stand mixer until they're frothy and light yellow. Add in 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the oil, and the 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix until everything is combined.

Step 6

Mix together in a separate bowl the flour, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, salt, black pepper and 1 teaspoon of the baking soda. Add the dry mix to the egg mixture in two or three additions, alternating with ½ cup of the buttermilk. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.

Step 7

Slowly mix the quicky fig jam into the batter. (If you're using walnuts, add them now.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.

Step 8

Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes until a tester inserted in the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan to a cooling rack for 15 minutes.

Step 9

Combine the remaining buttermilk, the remaining ½ cup of sugar, melted butter, corn starch and the remaining baking soda in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once it comes to a boil, immediately remove the pan from heat and keep stirring. It will be foamy and will escape the pan if not stirred! Stir in the vanilla and then let the glaze sit to wait for the cake.

Step 10

Have a serving platter ready for the cake: the platter should have enough room and high-enough edges to hold excess glaze.

Step 11

After the cake has cooled for 15 minutes, run a knife around the edges to loosen it from the pan. Invert the pan onto the serving platter and gently remove the pan from the cake.

Step 12

Pour the warm glaze evenly over the top of the still-warm cake.

Step 13

Allow the cake to cool for another 10-15 minutes. Then slice it and serve!

Step 14

Makes 10 generous slices

Step 15

One of my readers, Sybil, made this recipe with fresh figs - thanks Sybil for sharing this option!

Step 16

When making the figgy jam, omit the dried figs and the ⅔ cup of water. Use three cups of sliced, fresh figs instead. Cook them in the saucepan with the lemon slices and sugar as directed above until the quicky jam has thickened - this may take a little longer than the 10 minutes.

Step 17

Use this quicky fig jam and continue with the recipe!