Buttermilk Fig Cake

When most people think of figs, they think of dried Calimyrna figs, those light brown sticky figs that my grandfather used to bring home along with bags of assorted nuts. While an excellent snack (and all the more so because, dried, they're available any time), in my opinion they are nothing compared to fresh black Mission figs. Not very sweet, these have an almost musky taste and, in all honesty, often pair better with savory foods than sweet.


That said, upon deciding one day that I had a hankering for figs, I decided to use them in a sweet preparation -- namely, a buttermilk fig cake. Now, I'm a very nervous (and inexperienced) baker, so I'm always wary to diverge from a recipe. However, I just couldn't find a recipe that incorporated everything I wanted! You see, the older I get, the more my sweet tooth disappears. So I couldn't have a cake that was terribly sweet (sacrilege, I know). And that meant I wanted a mix of fresh figs and dried. I also wanted lots of spices, since gingerbread is one of the few cakes the vegetarian is truly fond of. And some nuts to cut the sweetness.


I ended up combining several recipes and, much to my delight (because I kept muttering under my breath that it would never work), the cake was both delicious and not very sweet! More like a spice cake than anything else, it would be wonderful with afternoon tea. We shared it with friends, who were big fans as well. I hope you agree!


Buttermilk Fig Cake
adapted from Fresh and La Mia Cucina

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 7 1/2 ounces fig preserves
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
• 1 teaspoon allspice, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves, ground
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fresh figs, chopped
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 15 dried figs, chopped
• cooking spray

The Glaze

• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat eggs and egg whites in a mixing bowl until frothy. With beaters still running, add in granulated sugar, vegetable oil and fig preserves. Sift together flour, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, kosher salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add sifted dry ingredients and buttermilk, alternately adding a little of each, to egg mixture. Mix very well (it helps if you have an extra set of hands -- one person adds ingredients while the other mixes). Mix in vanilla extract. Fold in fresh figs, pecans and dried figs. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake 55-65 minutes, until a chopstick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine buttermilk, powdered sugar, baking soda, cornstarch and butter. Bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Stir in vanilla extract and Grand Marnier. Remove sides from springform pan. Drizzle glaze over cake. Enjoy!

Make It a Meal: So your guests still have room for dessert, precede this cake with a light dish of Olive Oil Roasted Eggplant with Lemon, served over fresh pasta. The cake is wonderful topped with vanilla ice cream or even whipped cream.


Drink Pairings: A Zinfandel, such as 7 Deadly Zins was great with the main meal, but, since you've already opened the bottle of Grand Marnier, why not spice things up a bit and make Sangria? I recommend White Zinfandel Sangria; it would even work with the cake!



Leftovers: Leftover cake makes a wonderful breakfast the next morning. It also works as an afternoon pick-me-up, particularly with a cup of tea!


Links to other fig noshes:

• Figs! from Simply Recipes
• The best fig tart from Chez Pim
• Grown-up Fig Cookies from 101 Cookies
• Fig Galette from Simply Recipes
• Roasted Figs with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Agave Glaze from Kalyn's Kitchen

Coriander and Cumin-Rubbed Chickpeas, Charred Corn Relish, Steamed Okra and Fried Onions

Coriander and Cumin-Rubbed Chickpeas, Charred Corn Relish, Steamed Okra and Fried Onions

Corn is, to me, one of the most quintessential summer foods. While it is available year-round, I buy it almost exclusively during the summer when it seems to be at every Greenmarket booth. As I see it, it's a great, simple addition to almost every meal (as you can see from many Make-It-a-Meal suggestions). Normally I just steam it, enjoying the corn fresh with butter. Every so often, however, I get the urge to do something more creative. At those times, I turn to cookbooks -- in this case, Courses: A Culinary Journey. A complicated book (by a chef on a cruise line), I find it's best for inspiration. In there, I found a recipe for Charred Corn Relish. That seemed simple enough, but certainly not enough for a meal. It was served with catfish -- not an option when cooking for the vegetarian, though, if you're so inclined please feel free to try it out! Instead, I opted for chickpeas, one of my favorite legumes. I have to say, these battered and fried chickpeas were one of the best things I've ever made. While they were great with all the accompaniments, they'd also be a wonderful appetizer, served with drinks.

Wanting to include a green vegetable, I decided to go with okra, one of the few green vegetables that the vegetarian is extremely fond of. Being lazy, and knowing how flavorful the rest of the dish would be, I steamed the okra and tossed it with butter (similarly to how I usually cook corn). However, in order to up the flavor quotient of the rest of the dish, I allowed myself to be inspired by Stir-fry Okra, Chillies & Shallots from. So even though my okra was simple, I used lots of spices for the rest of the dish.


This "dish" is actually several different components. Feel free to make only one part, or several -- whatever works for your time constraints and tastebuds. Everything works well together or separately. At the end of the post, under "leftovers", there are some suggestions for how else to use each component. Bon appetit!


Coriander and Cumin-Rubbed Chickpeas, Charred Corn Relish, Steamed Okra and Fried Onions
adapted from Courses: A Culinary Journey and Ahaar


For a non-vegetarian alternative, you could substitute catfish filets for some or all of the chickpeas.

• 2 lbs. chickpeas
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, ground
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• grapeseed oil, for frying
• kernels from 3 ears fresh corn
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 shallot, diced
• 3/4 cup canned black beans
• 1 green jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• juice from 1 lime
• juice from 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• grapeseed oil, for frying
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, ground
• 3 cups okra
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper, ground

Drain chickpeas. Pour in a large bowl and squeeze lemon juice on top. Season with mustard, cumin and coriander seeds. Toss well to combine. Make seasoned flour by combining flour, salt, turmeric, paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper in a large bowl. Add chickpeas and toss well until coated. Remove chickpeas, reserving remaining seasoned flour. Heat grapeseed oil in a heavy saute pan and fry chickpeas for 6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and let drain. (If you were to make this with catfish, now would be the time to cook it -- treated the same way as the chickpeas.)

Charred Corn Relish

Heat a heavy pan (cast-iron if available) until very hot. Add corn kernels to pan and allow to char, cooking undisturbed. Add bell peppers and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and shallot. Cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add black beans, jalapeno pepper, olive oil, lime juice, lemon juice, cilantro, parsley, salt and chile powder. Keep warm.

Separate onion rings and dredge in seasoned flour. Heat grapeseed oil in heavy saute pan (the same one used to fry the chickpeas) and fry onion until lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Let drain and keep warm.

Clean okra and trim stems. Steam 8-12 minutes, whole. Once cooked, chop into 1/2-inch chunks. Toss with butter, salt and pepper.

Serve chickpeas topped with corn relish and fried onions, okra on the side. Enjoy!

Make it a meal: This dish (or dishes, depending on how you see things) is really a meal in itself! Serve with

Separate dishes

 a rose -- I'd recommend a 2010 Biohof Pratsch. Bon appetit!

Leftovers: Because there are so many components, I'm going to suggest leftovers for each one. Toss leftover okra and fried onions with kasha. Combine corn salsa with chopped kumato tomatoes to freshen it up. Serve with tortilla chips. Finally, combine some cultures (and add extra seasoning to packaged food) by heating leftover chickpeas (or catfish) with creamy polenta with spinach & carrots, courtesy of Trader Joe's.

Links to other fried onion noshes: 

• How to Make French Fried Onions from Gluten Free Mommy
• Onion Strings from The Pioneer Woman
• Oven-Fried Onion Rings with Dipping Sauce from Brown Eyed Baker
• Red Lentils with Cumin and Fried Onions from eCurry
• Peperonata from Simply Recipes

Chunky Banana Bran Muffins

What do you usually eat for breakfast? Since I was 15, unless breakfast occurred after noon (and thus became brunch, incorporating lunch as well), breakfast was either reduced to a cup of coffee or foregone altogether. Occasionally when I was in high school I would grab a granola bar that could be eaten on the subway and in college I tried desperately to sneak a yogurt or the like in while catching up on blogs and checking my e-mail. All in all, though, breakfast has never been a priority (even though I know it's the most important meal of the day).

Since moving in with the Vegetarian, we've made an effort to have breakfast every day--usually a bowl of cereal (along with our coffee) while checking e-mails, but, since it's winter, oatmeal has also begun making appearances. And, on later days, there might be pancakes, french toast or a fried or scrambled egg or reheated frozen waffles. Normally the Vegetarian is in charge of breakfast (I am anything but a morning person) but, after being sick for a week and feeling guilty that he was doing all the around-the-house stuff while I lay miserably coughing in bed, I flipped through Barefoot Contessa at Home and lighted on a recipe for Chunky Banana Bran Muffins.

My first venture outside was to the grocery store where I picked up the necessary ingredients. But, not being entirely coherent, I bought a bottle of blackstrap molasses, which are rather potent. So, I thought these muffins were great (since I like the taste of molasses) although the Vegetarian found them too bananaey. (I really like bananas and didn't find them to taste

enough of banana--and that was after adding some banana liqueur into the batter!) But at least I have a breakfast option for the next while that can be eaten at home or on the run!

Chunky Banana Bran Muffins

adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home

makes 24 muffins

• 2 cups wheat bran
• 2 cups buttermilk (I use reconstituted powdered buttermilk mixed with water)
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup blackstrap molasses (substitute any other for a less pronounced flavor)
• 2 teaspoons orange zest, grated
• 1 teaspoon creme de banane
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups raisins
• 2 cups banana, diced
• 1 cup English walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pans with paper liners (makes clean-up much easier).

Combine wheat bran and buttermilk and set aside. Cream butter and sugar in food processor fitted with plastic dough hook. (If they're not perfectly combined, don't worry.) Add eggs, one at a time, pulsing food processor to incorporate into the batter after each one. Next add molasses, orange zest and creme de banane. Add wheat bran-buttermilk mixture and pulse until combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add slowly (I did it in four parts) to food processor, pulsing just to combine after each addition. Once you see no white streaks, stop mixing! Using a rubber spatula, fold in raisins, bananas and walnuts.

With a large spoon, fill muffin pans to the top (the batter doesn't rise very much) and bake 25 minutes. Let cool before eating. Enjoy!

After not participating in a blog event in eons, this is my submission for Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen Bake-Off where we are instructed to bake something vegetarian. Done! Thanks for hosting, Champa!

Links to other Chunky Banana Bran Muffins noshes:

• Chunky Banana Bran Muffins from Ladyberd's Kitchen
• Chunky Banana Bran Muffins from Caviar and Codfish