A neighbor handed me a bag of figs one August and I had no plan for them. That’s how I found this cake. It came from an old Southern recipe, and it’s now the only thing I want when figs are cheap.
The batter is one bowl, no mixer, and about ten minutes of work. What makes it is the buttermilk glaze poured over while the cake is still warm. It soaks in rather than sitting on top.
Below this fig cake you’ll find a chocolate one for birthdays, since figs are not everyone’s idea of a celebration. After that come four fig variations I rotate through each summer.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
It gets better on day two. The figs keep releasing moisture into the crumb overnight, so a slice on Tuesday beats a slice on Monday. Very few cakes can claim that.
This fig cake works with fresh figs or a jar of preserves. Fresh gives you a lighter, fruitier cake, while preserves make it denser and sweeter. Both work in the same batter with no other changes.
There’s no frosting to make, no layers to stack, and no cooling time to plan around. You pour the glaze on warm and let it sink in while you clean up.
Fig Cake Ingredients & Substitutions
Most of this is standard pantry stock. The figs and the buttermilk are the two that matter. Don’t use low-fat buttermilk, because the fat is doing real work in the crumb.
| Ingredients | Amount | Substitution or Note |
| All-purpose flour | 2 cups (260 g) | Spoon and level it |
| Granulated sugar | 1½ cups (300 g) | Brown sugar for a deeper flavor |
| Baking soda | 1 teaspoon | Reacts with the buttermilk |
| Salt | 1 teaspoon | Don’t cut this back |
| Ground cinnamon | 1 teaspoon | The main spice |
| Ground nutmeg | ½ teaspoon | Freshly grated if you have it |
| Ground allspice | ½ teaspoon | Or cloves, half the amount |
| Vegetable oil | 1 cup (240 ml) | Mild olive oil works |
| Large eggs | 3 | Room temperature |
| Buttermilk | 1 cup (240 ml) | Milk plus 1 tbsp vinegar |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tablespoon | Yes, a full tablespoon |
| Chopped figs | 1½ cups | Fresh, or fig preserves |
| Chopped pecans | 1 cup | Walnuts, or leave them out |
For Glaze: ½ cup buttermilk, ½ cup sugar, ¼ cup butter, 1½ teaspoons cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla.
- Figs bring moisture and a soft, jammy texture. Their flavor is gentle, which is why the spices are there.
- Buttermilk tenderizes the crumb and reacts with the baking soda for lift. It also cuts through all that sugar.
- Oil keeps the cake soft for four or five days. Butter would firm up in the fridge and go dry.
- Pecans are optional but worth it. They give you something to bite against a very soft cake.
- The spices are not decoration. Without cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, this tastes like a plain sweet loaf.
How To Make Fig Cake
Step 1: Prep the Pan
- Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 10-inch tube pan or a large bundt pan very thoroughly.
- Dust the greased pan with flour and tap out the excess, because this batter is sticky and it will cling.
Step 2: Mix the Dry Ingredients
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in a large bowl.
- Keep whisking until the spices disappear into the flour, which takes about 20 seconds.
Step 3: Add the Wet Ingredients
- Pour in the oil and stir, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each.
- Add the buttermilk and vanilla, and stir until the batter is smooth with no dry patches at the bottom.
Step 4: Fold in the Figs
- Stir in the chopped figs and pecans by hand until they’re spread through the batter evenly.
- Chop the figs small if you’re using preserves, so you don’t get one slice with all the fruit in it.
Step 5: Bake
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
- Tent the top loosely with foil if it darkens before the middle sets, which happens in some ovens.
Step 6: Make the Glaze and Pour
- Bring the buttermilk, sugar, butter, cornstarch, and baking soda to a boil, stirring the whole time.
- Boil for about 3 minutes until it turns golden, take it off the heat, and stir in the vanilla.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, turn it out, then pour the warm glaze over the warm cake.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Not everyone wants fig on their birthday. This chocolate birthday cake is my default when someone asks for something classic, and the hot coffee in the batter is what makes it taste properly dark.
Ingredients I Use
- 2 cups flour, 2 cups sugar, ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, 1 cup buttermilk, ½ cup oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup hot coffee or boiling water
How to Make Chocolate Birthday Cake
- Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a big bowl, breaking up any lumps of cocoa.
- Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and beat for two minutes until smooth.
- Stir in the hot coffee last, and don’t panic when the batter turns thin and runny.
- Divide between two greased 9-inch pans and bake at 350°F for 30 to 35 minutes.
Cool the layers completely before frosting them. Chocolate buttercream is traditional, though cream cheese frosting works better if the cake is already very sweet. It keeps for three days covered.
Fig Cake Variations Worth Trying
Same fruit, four directions. Every fig cake below changes the texture as much as the flavor, so pick by what you want to eat rather than by the name.
| Version | What Changes | Bake |
| Italian fig cake | Olive oil, almonds, lemon zest, figs on top | 9-inch pan, 35 to 45 mins |
| Apple fig cake | Half figs, half diced apple | Same as the main recipe |
| Southern Living fig cake | Fig preserves, tube pan, buttermilk glaze | 10-inch tube, about 70 mins |
| Fig cheesecake | Fig jam swirled through the batter | Springform, water bath |
The Italian fig cake is the one I’d bake for guests. Olive oil replaces the vegetable oil, ground almonds replace some of the flour, and halved figs sit on top cut side up. It bakes flat in a round tin.
For an apple fig cake, swap half the figs for a cup of diced apple. The apple holds its shape in the oven while the figs melt down, so you get two textures in the same slice.
Fig cheesecake is less a recipe than a move you make. Warm half a cup of fig jam, swirl it through the batter before baking, then pile roasted fig halves on top once the cheesecake has chilled.
Pro Tips
- Grease the pan more than feels necessary. This is a sticky cake and it will tear if the pan isn’t properly coated, especially a bundt with detail.
- Pour the glaze while both are warm. Cold cake refuses to absorb it, and you end up with a sugary puddle on the plate instead.
- Poke holes in the top with a skewer first if you want the glaze deeper in the crumb.
- Store it covered at room temperature for three days, or five in the fridge. It freezes well unglazed for up to three months.
Wrapping Up
Fig season is short, so I bake this cake two or three times while the figs are good and freeze one. The rest of the year I use preserves, and nobody complains.
If figs aren’t what people want, the chocolate cake above covers birthdays instead. Same mixing method, one bowl, and no waiting around for a tree to fruit.
Fig Cake
Ingredients
Method
- Whisk dry ingredients
- Stir in oil, eggs
- Buttermilk, and vanilla
- Fold in figs and pecans
- Bake at 350°F in a greased tube pan for 55-65 minutes
- Boil the glaze
- Pour over the warm cake
