I am very fortunate to have a colleague who generously invites me over to her house to pick figs; this year her crop arrived early (the second week of August) and I was able to parlay my pickings into a fig frangipane tart, a fig cake, and fig bars with thyme. After using up my annual supply of fresh figs, I put figs out of my mind until next year. But at the end of September, this same colleague mentioned that an acquaintance of hers had several fig trees in her backyard that were still bearing fruit, and the homeowner was happy to have us come over to pick figs.
When we arrived at the house, I was amazed at what I saw. Multiple large fig trees bearing several types of fruit in different colors, and despite that fact that it was only two days until October, much of the fruit wasn't even ripe yet. And it had to be a sign that on the same day we picked figs, the Los Angeles Times' Food Section (which had already been inconveniently relocated from Wednesday to Thursday before being practically banished from the print edition; it is currently incorporated into a "Saturday" print section that appears on -- you guessed it -- Saturday) included an article on Proof Bakery and a recipe from the owner for a "Rolled-Oat Cake with Figs."
The first step in the recipe is to combine oats and hot milk and allow the oats to absorb most of the milk. The ratio of oatmeal to milk (1:2) is exactly the same you would use if you were cooking oatmeal to eat; the difference is that to prepare oatmeal hot cereal you need to cook the oatmeal and milk for 5 minutes. I was a bit perplexed by this first step because although I heated my milk to very hot, less than half of it was actually absorbed by the oats. (I used old fashioned oats -- I suppose that quick oats would have absorbed more liquid, but if a recipe requires quick oats instead of old fashioned, I would certainly hope that the directions would specify as such.)
The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward: cream butter and sugar; add honey and vanilla; add eggs; fold in sifted flour and baking powder; and stir in the drained oats. You spread the batter into a greased pan, arrange sliced figs on top, and sprinkle the top of the cake with coarse sugar before baking.
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When we arrived at the house, I was amazed at what I saw. Multiple large fig trees bearing several types of fruit in different colors, and despite that fact that it was only two days until October, much of the fruit wasn't even ripe yet. And it had to be a sign that on the same day we picked figs, the Los Angeles Times' Food Section (which had already been inconveniently relocated from Wednesday to Thursday before being practically banished from the print edition; it is currently incorporated into a "Saturday" print section that appears on -- you guessed it -- Saturday) included an article on Proof Bakery and a recipe from the owner for a "Rolled-Oat Cake with Figs."
The first step in the recipe is to combine oats and hot milk and allow the oats to absorb most of the milk. The ratio of oatmeal to milk (1:2) is exactly the same you would use if you were cooking oatmeal to eat; the difference is that to prepare oatmeal hot cereal you need to cook the oatmeal and milk for 5 minutes. I was a bit perplexed by this first step because although I heated my milk to very hot, less than half of it was actually absorbed by the oats. (I used old fashioned oats -- I suppose that quick oats would have absorbed more liquid, but if a recipe requires quick oats instead of old fashioned, I would certainly hope that the directions would specify as such.)
The rest of the recipe is pretty straightforward: cream butter and sugar; add honey and vanilla; add eggs; fold in sifted flour and baking powder; and stir in the drained oats. You spread the batter into a greased pan, arrange sliced figs on top, and sprinkle the top of the cake with coarse sugar before baking.
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I made a couple of cakes using different types of figs. The figs on the cake pictured above had bright green skins with vibrant wine-colored flesh. The slice pictured below came from a cake made with yellow-skinned figs that had light pink flesh.
This cake was unusual. It was barely sweet, dense, slightly dry, and had an oddly chewy texture from the oats. Eating this cake took me back fifteen plus years ago when I was in college. I used to go to Jamba Juice and buy smoothies and oat cakes. The Jamba oat cake was shaped like a hockey puck, came wrapped in cling film, and had a dense, hearty texture. This fig cake was hearty as well, and it seemed more like a breakfast food than a dessert.
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This rustic cake was tasty and I enjoyed it, although I wouldn't call it a standout. I can't help but wonder how the cake might have turned out if I had cooked the oats with the milk to get the oats to absorb more liquid before incorporating them into the batter, or perhaps tried using quick oats instead. I might have to give one of those approaches a try when I get more figs, next year!
Recipe: "Rolled-Oat Cake with Figs" from Na Young Ma of Proof Bakery, printed in the September 29, 2012 Los Angeles Times.
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