Little Fig and Fennel Cakes

Here’s another recipe for all those who don’t know what to make with there figs and are sick of fig preserves!

I really can’t get enough of these new season fig, although I confess to buying them at a dollar a piece which is rather a luxury. But the neighbours tree, which by the way they don’t eat the figs from, keeps being ravaged by birds before I can get to them, lucky birds. I’m wondering whether next year I will be brave enough to ask the neighbour if I can net their tree and collect the figs, maybe with promises of fig offering from my kitchen

I have used these figs to make a kind of ‘up side down’ cake by lining the sides of muffin tins with slices of figs. The sponge has ground fennel seeds in it to give an aniseed taste. The camps were divided on the texture of the fennel through the sponge but the majority seemed to like it, maybe it was just P who wasn’t keen but then I did force feed him a taste and he doesn’t really like figs! Ooops.

Ingredients – makes 8-10

225g butter
225 sugar
225 SR flour
4 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
8-10 figs
2 tsp fennel seeds, ground (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 175 degrees centigrade.
Line muffin tin with greaseproof paper, I did this by laying two strips crossing each other in the centre  and then up the sides.
Slice the figs from top to bottom, 4-5 slices per fig.
Place 4 slices of fig in each muffing tin, narrow top of the fig down to the bottom centre of each tin and the fatter base of the fig up the sides.
Place butter & sugar into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk or good old fashioned wooded spoon until light and fluffy.
Add one egg at a time and whisk in between both additions.
Sift in flour and fennel into butter mixture and fold in with a spatular.
Add milk and fold together ingredients.
Fill each muffin tin with sponge just to the top of the figs.
Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out of the sponge clean.
Serve warm with cream of ice cream.