The Vanishing Cake....

This cake rocks my world. It is sooooo good! This is the second time I've made it, and I'm telling you people, it is awesome. I'm surprised it even made it into the cake pan because I kept eating the batter! I made this one night when Pete and Dana came over for dinner, and they loved it as well. Between the four of us, this whole cake went up in smoke in less than a day. One day! Oh, my poor hips.

The cake is so moist and delicious, with bites of gooey fig jam and a to-die-for buttermilk frosting that seeps through the whole thing. Yes, the fruit and milk combo makes this a perfectly acceptable breakfast item. If it makes it to the next morning that is. And of course, it only gets better the longer it sits around.

Did you know that if you are out of buttermilk, you can substitute by combining 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and 1 cup of milk and letting it stand for 10 minutes? I bet you knew that already. I learned this while reading this recipe about a year ago and it has been one of my go-to tricks ever since. 

Pecan Fig Cake with Buttermilk Glaze

Adapted from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

Cake:

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 cups AP flour

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in a little bit of hot water

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fig jam or coarsely chopped preserved figs

1 cup pecans

Buttermilk Glaze:

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch or flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cake:

• Preheat oven to 350℉.
• Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs for a few minutes or until they become light yellow and smooth.
• Add sugar and oil and beat well to form a smooth, thick batter.
• In a separate small bowl, sift together the flour, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and salt.
• Add 1/2 flour mixture to egg batter and stir with a large spoon to combine.
• Add buttermilk. 
• Add remaining flour mixture, baking soda and vanilla extract, stirring to combine.
• Gently stir in figs and pecans, just mixing till evenly distributed.
• Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the cake is browned, firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool cake in pan on top of a wire rack for 15 minutes.
• To remove, run a table knife around the pan and gently turn the cake out.

Glaze:

• Prepare glaze while the cake bakes.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the buttermilk, sugar, butter, cornstarch and baking soda, and bring to a gentle boil.
• Remove at once, stir well and set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Stir in vanilla.
• Once cake has slightly cooled, pour glaze over top. If desired, poke small holes in the cake so that the glaze can run inside. (I actually did this while the cake was still in the pan, which made the glaze on the bottom of the cake. Still delicious and less of a mess!).