Fig Ricotta Cake Recipes

ROASTED FIGS WITH FRESH RICOTTA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Put the figs, cut side up, in a baking dish. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, and whisk in the honey, cinnamon and salt. Drizzle the hot honey butter over the figs and roast in oven until very soft, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Divide the fresh ricotta or fat free yogurt among 4 serving dishes and top with the warm figs and sauce. Enjoy!
• Cook's Note: These hot figs are really great over mixed greens or even on a toasted baguette as a crostini!

FIG-RICOTTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Beat ricotta cheese, sugar, and butter together in a bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by almond extract. Beat in flour mixture on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl until combined; beat batter for about 30 seconds more.
• Place chopped figs into a bowl, sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour over, and stir to coat. Fold figs into the batter. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Place fig slices on top of the batter, down the center.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 60 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Remove from the pan once the cake has cooled, 20 to 30 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

FIG AND DATE RICOTTA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas Mark 4. Grease a 12" x 2" / 30cm x 5cm spring form cake tin sparingly with vegetable oil.
• Place the soft unsalted butter and 250g (8 oz) caster sugar in a large mixing bowl and, using a wooden spoon, cream until pale and fluffy.
• Separate the egg yolks into the mixture, one by one, beating well between each addition.
• Place the finely grated zest of the oranges and lemons, into a separate mixing bowl and add 125g (5 oz) roasted pinenuts, the chopped dried dates, 200 g (7oz) chopped dried figs and the ricotta and mix well together.
• Fold the butter and egg mix into the ricotta mixture and sift the plain flour into this mix and combine.
• In a large bowl, using a whisk beat 2 egg whites into soft peaks. Fold in one large spoonful of egg whites into the ricotta mix. Once this is well mixed, carefully fold in the remainder, ensuring that you do not lose too much of the air.
• Pour the mixture into the greased cake tin and bake for about 45 minutes or until the tip of a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• While the cake is cooling, put 125g (5oz) sugar and the water into a small saucepan over a medium heat and reduce. Add the sprigs of fresh rosemary and infuse.
• Spike the cooled cake all over with a fork and dribble with the rosemary syrup.
• Garnish with 1oz (25g) of toasted pine nuts, 1oz (25g) of thinly sliced dried fig and sprigs of rosemary.

FIG CAKES WITH SWEET RICOTTA

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the butter into a pot and cook, stirring, until it browns. Remove from the heat and let cool, but not to the point that it solidifies, about 5 minutes.
• Whip the eggs and egg yolks together with the granulated sugar until thick and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl, then fold into the whipped egg mixture. Add the butter and mix until incorporated. Add the sour cream, milk and vanilla seeds and mix until it comes together. Transfer to a piping bag.
• Spray two 12-cup muffin tins generously with cooking spray. Arrange the sliced figs in the muffin cups (overlapping is okay). Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons brown sugar on top of each. Fill the muffin cups with the cake batter about three-quarters of the way full. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the edges comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before removing from the muffin cups.
• For the sweet ricotta: Meanwhile, put the ricotta in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and let drain for 30 minutes. Discard the liquid. Stir in the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. Reserve until ready to serve.
• Serve the cakes with a dusting of confectioners' sugar and dollops of sweet ricotta. Garnish with quartered figs if using.

NECTARINE, FIG AND RICOTTA CAKE

Steps:

• Remove pits from nectarines and cut into small pieces along with the figs. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, use your fingers to combine flour, baking powder, sugar, sea salt, lemon zest, almonds, butter and vanilla. Scoop out one cup of batter and reserve in the fridge for the crumble.
• Use a hand mixer and slowly add eggs and cream to the rest of the batter, mixing until creamy.
• Pour ½ of the batter into the greased and lined with parchment paper 20 cm spring form pan and sprinkle ½ of the cut up fruits. Spread ½ of the ricotta.
• Pour remaining cake batter over the ricotta and then sprinkle over the remaining fruits and then the remaining ricotta cheese. Sprinkle the reserved crumble on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven at 190°C for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool 15 mins in the pan before removing the outside ring of the spring form pan. Allow to cool completely before sprinkling with powdered sugar and garnishing with figs.