This is the Best Fresh Figs Cake Recipe ever! This easy one-bowl vanilla cake is topped with luscious, ripe figs and a drizzle of caramel sauce…a heavenly combination!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
I have to admit, I didn’t always like figs. Maybe it was the texture? My life was forever changed when I tasted a simple sliced fig sitting on top of a cracker with a dollop of soft cheese. Just wow.
So if you’re out and about during fig season (May-October) or just a fig lover, grab some ripe Black Mission Figs, and make this recipe, you won’t regret it!
Here’s some good reasons to make this wonderful cake:
- This is an easy, one bowl, no fuss vanilla cake.
- The cream cheese frosting needs no sales pitch, and it’s swirled on top.
- Sliced fresh figs are dolloped over the frosting.
- The cake is finished with a sweet drizzle of caramel sauce or honey.
- A slice is perfect for dessert, or with your morning coffee or at tea time.
If you’re a cake lover like me, you’ve got to bookmark this Banana Cake to try sometime, it’s so good (and also has cream cheese frosting!) and this Apple Cake is pretty amazing too.
Don’t miss two more reader favorite fig recipes on this website, Fresh Figs, Three Ways and California Fig Banana Bread!
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the full recipe and list of ingredients, please scroll to the recipe card below.
- Fresh Figs: Black Mission Figs are most common, but use any variety you like.
- Cream Cheese & Butter: For the luscious frosting.
- Yogurt: Use full fat yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream.
- Flour: Good ol’ all-purpose.
- Melted Butter: Melted and cooled.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: For that flavor we can’t get anywhere else.
- Eggs: Two large, please.
- Powdered Sugar: For the quick & easy frosting.
- Baking Soda and Powder: To lift that cake up!
Step-By Step Instructions
- Start with a large or medium bowl, add the dry ingredients in, then whisk them together to combine.
- Next, add the wet ingredients in, and whisk them together just enough to remove the lumps. Be careful not to over mix!
3. Pour batter into a prepared pan – a 9″ cake pan or springform pan – the batter will be thick. Bake for 35-40 minutes in a pre-heated oven.
4. The cake should be flat or slightly domed on the top and golden brown when it’s finished. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before adding the frosting and fresh fruit.
5. While the cake cools, make the cream cheese frosting by mixing it with a little butter for about 2 minutes.
6. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to mix for another two minutes until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
7. This recipe makes just enough frosting to swirl on the top of the cake, followed by sliced figs and a final flourish of caramel sauce.
Tips and Possible Variations
- Try other varieties of figs if you can’t find Black Mission Figs.
- Place a small piece of parchment paper be put on the serving tray before setting the cake on it to prevent slipping. You could also put a coin-sized dot of frosting to “glue” it in place.
- Keep the oven door closed while your cake bakes! Use the oven light to take a look instead of opening the oven door, which can lead to deflated cakes.
- When you reach the end of baking time, test by inserting a toothpick in the middle. If it’s clean or just has a little bit of crumbs clinging to it, it’s done.
- Turn the cake upside down on the serving platter to have the flattest surface to frost.
- Make sure the cake is completely cool before frosting.
- Use a large baking sheet to set the cake on before putting it in the oven, this will make it easier to pull out.
Serving Ideas
- Make this wonderful, moist fresh figs cake for birthdays, as a coffee cake in the afternoon, or dinner parties after a nice pork chop dinner, or a sun dried tomato chicken pasta, this Vegetarian Baked Spaghetti recipe, or some of these fantastic turkey meatballs, maybe with a fantastic blackberry goat cheese salad?
- Add a dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche to the plate when serving if you like.
- Keep the cake refrigerated if you don’t finish it all, and this cake is best eaten the same day it’s made.
- Use a serving tray or cake stand to make this cake a centerpiece!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can bake this delicious cake the day before, wrap it well in plastic wrap to keep it fresh, then frost and add the figs the next day when you serve it.
Airtight container, or just wrapped well in plastic or foil and kept in the refrigerator, this cake will taste fresh for another day.
More Recipes to Try
- Ice Cream Cake with Peanut Butter Ganache: A fantastic warm weather dessert.
- Roasted Nectarines with Caramel Sauce: Another delicious fresh fruit dessert.
- The Best Lazy Sunday Dinner Ideas: Here’s a tasty list.
- Easy Sweet Recipes at Home: A round-up of favorites.
- Ginger Biscotti with Pistachio: Really good dunked in tea or coffee.
- Chocolate Covered Popcorn: A really delicious treat for snacking or gifting.
- Blackberry Galette: A rustic, absolutely delicious tart recipe.
- Pumpkin Spice Milkshake: A fabulous treat for fall.
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Best Fresh Figs Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Butter, softened, to prep the cake pan
- 2 tablespoons Flour, to prep the cake pan
- 1¼ cups All-purpose flour
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt (kosher)
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Full fat yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk
- 1 stick Melted unsalted butter, cooled
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Water
- 1½ teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 Eggs, large, room temperature
- FOR THE FROSTING
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese
- 2 tablespoons Butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 container Fresh Figs, about 8 large
- 3 tablespoons Caramel Sauce, store bought
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and prepare a 9" (inch) cake pan by buttering the bottom, then adding a fitted round of parchment paper (you can cut this to size) then butter the inside again, including up the sides. Add the two tablespoons of flour to cake pan and tap it until the the entire inside of the pan is covered, tap to remove any excess flour from the pan. Place on a large baking sheet and make the cake batter. Makes one 9" cake.
- In a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and with a whisk, mix to combine these ingredients. Next, in the same bowl, stir in the yogurt, butter, water, vanilla extract and eggs until mixed…you can use the whisk for this too. Mix just until the lumps are gone, be careful not to over mix!
- Add the cake batter to the prepared pan, set the pan on a baking sheet to make removal from the oven easier. Bake until golden brown, 35-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center of the cake will come out clean or with a few crumbs that cling to it. Remove from oven and let it cool completely in the pan.
- Make the cream cheese frosting by mixing the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with a hand held electric mixer until it's fluffy, 2 minutes, scraping down the sides occasionally as you go. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and continue to mix until combined and fluffy, another 2 minutes. When the cake is fully cooled, turn it upside down, remove it from the pan and remove any stuck parchment paper from the bottom. Transfer to a serving platter, then spread the frosting on top. Wash and dry the figs and trim the ends, cut in quarters and add to the top of the cake, then drizzle with caramel sauce.
Notes
- Try other varieties of figs if you can’t find Black Mission Figs.
- Place a small piece of parchment paper be put on the serving tray before setting the cake on it to prevent slipping. You could also put a coin-sized dot of frosting to “glue” it in place.
- Keep the oven door closed while your cake bakes! Use the oven light to take a look instead of opening the oven door, which can lead to deflated cakes.
- When you reach the end of baking time, test by inserting a toothpick in the middle. If it’s clean or just has a little bit of crumbs clinging to it, it’s done.
- Turn the cake upside down on the serving platter to have the flattest surface to frost.
- Make sure the cake is completely cool before frosting.
- Use a large baking sheet to set the cake on before putting it in the oven, this will make it easier.
Nutrition
- Super important to read the whole recipe before you begin
- Pay attention to the ingredient list and photos for the recipe
- If possible, prep your ingredients a little before you start
- Always use a sharp knife for safety
- Use the size of pan called for in the recipe
- For savory recipes, taste and season as you go
- Buy fresh, organic ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible
This post was updated with new text and instructions, August 2024.
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