Warm Fig and Chocolate Sponge Cake

Figs, clafoutis, sponge cake, dark chocolate, Ottolenghi, New York Times… These ideas, taste and images are fantastical and compelling. They jammed into my head space and prompted me to get into the kitchen and start baking the warm fig and chocolate sponge cake. And I did without much hesitation.

Fortunately, I had some fresh figs in the fridge. In the interim, throwing them into the just-made caramel with shaved citrus zest, it’s so tempting to stop and started eating the figs right there and then. Holding myself back and a few hours later, I had the full benefits of the cake to eat and marvel at. And then write about it.

In Ottolenghi’s New York Times article, what grabs my attention is the subject matter — the fruit you long to cook with. It’s an idea worth contemplating. In addition, Elizabeth David, the colossal writer who dedicated her life to food wrote.

“Figs being the epitome of unattained desire in Britain… To eat figs off the tree in the very early morning, when they have been barely touched by the sun, is one of the exquisite pleasures of the Mediterranean.”

This summer I’ve eaten and cooked with more figs in different shapes and forms than anything else. For some reasons, we have more varieties of delicious figs available than any past seasons I can remember. Mostly from California and I bought one box after another from Trader Joe’s.

I love baking with fruits: blueberries, raspberries, certain stone fruits and, of course, a variety of apples. However, there is no longing! The global supply chain takes care that these fruits fill the shelves mostly uninterrupted. But for figs, except for the dry ones, the seasonal factor is still relevant.

I’m already missing its sweet and figgy-ness. Looking out the window, the tiny fig tree I try to grow, without giving any fruit to speak of, looks forlorn.

It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger after them. ~ George Eliot

Print Recipe

Warm Fig and Chocolate Sponge Cake

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• ½ cup/100 grams superfine (caster) sugar
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest, plus 1 tablespoon juice (from 1 orange)
• 12 ripe black figs (about 14 ounces/400 grams), tough stems removed and figs halved lengthwise
• 2 eggs, whites and yolks separated
• ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons/100 milliliters heavy cream (double cream)
• ¼ cup/35 grams all-purpose (plain) flour
• 2 tablespoons/15 grams cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt
• 1 ½ ounces/40 grams dark chocolate (70 percent), roughly chopped into scant 1/2-inch/1-centimeter pieces
• Crème fraîche, for serving

Instructions

1

Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/190 degrees Celsius.

2

Add 1/4 cup/50 grams sugar to a small, oven-proof, high-sided sauté pan with a 6-inch/15-centimeter base (or similar). Cook over medium-high heat, swirling the pan a few times, until the sugar has melted and turned a dark caramel color, 5 to 8 minutes. Carefully add the rum — it will spit and seize up a little — and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring until combined and thick. Remove from the heat, stir in the orange juice and figs, and set aside to cool.

3

Add the egg yolks to a medium bowl along with 2 tablespoons/25 grams sugar. Whisk by hand until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Add the cream, flour, cocoa powder, vanilla, salt and orange zest, then whisk until smooth and thick.

4

In another medium bowl, using a clean whisk, whisk the egg whites by hand with the remaining 2 tablespoons/25 grams sugar until they form stiff peaks, 4 to 5 minutes. Fold gently into the yolk batter, then pour the mixture over the figs in the sauté pan (it should cover the figs completely).

5

Sprinkle all over with the chocolate and bake until the batter rises and is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, divide among four bowls and drizzle with any remaining liquid from the pan. Serve hot, with some crème fraîche alongside.

Notes

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020401-warm-fig-and-chocolate-sponge-cake