In these stressful times we tend to gravitate to what brings us comfort. In my case it is spending enormous amounts of time looking for delicious recipes to cook or bake. Not all the recipes I look at I spend time with. Some recipes I may never try either because there isn’t flexibility in ingredients or strict timelines that don’t jive with my (lack of a) timeline. But then you see a recipe over and over and over again with variations – bingo! That’s the one I want to try. This is my version of a delightful cake making the rounds – I’ve already made it twice – deliciously moist results both times, of a Yogurt and Fig Cake (adapted slightly from thekitchn.com site).

The figs are my added ingredient for the cake. The reality is I was grocery shopping, minding my own business, mask on, social distancing when from out of nowhere, this carton of figs called my name, giving me that “come hither” look. I tried not to make eye contact, I circled the aisle from the back end a second time. Could it be I mistook the calling of my name? Maybe they were saying “Kiss” instead of Chris, but there was no mistaking it, the plump, ripe, dark skinned beauties were indeed calling me.

But enough of this Harlequin stuff, this is manly (or womanly) baking. In addition to those sultry figs, I also substituted flavored yogurt  for the plain yogurt.  You don’t need to, just use what you have – my favorite kind of recipe.  This is a moist delicious cake that stays moist and delicious for days (of for as long as it will last in your house). I sunk the whole fresh figs into the batter and sprinkled the top with coarse sugar. I also didn’t need to use a mixer. One bowl and a large spatula was all it took. End result, well let’s just say if I smoked, I would have one now. The pics in this blog are of two different cakes, one with sliced figs and icing sugar on the top, the other without. So make this cake using whatever variations you can think of! Baking times vary so do the toothpick thing and make sure it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on top. Social distance, wear a mask, wash your hands and stay safe! We want to return to some sense of normalcy so it’s really important to follow the rules. As always – enjoy!

1½ cups full-fat yogurt – plain – or whatever flavor you like, I used vanilla once and a strawberry and vanilla combo the second time
2/3 cup olive oil
1¼ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2½ cups all-purpose flour
2½ tsps baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
Pinch ground cinnamon
8 – 10 small fresh figs, top stem cut off
2 tbsps coarse sugar

Heat the oven to 350f. Grease and line with parchment, the bottom of a 9” spring form pan – set aside
In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon right into the liquids and stir just until no lumps remain
Pour the batter into the cake pan – wait, this took all of 5 minutes to do 🙂
Press the figs in a circular pattern in the batter, I left about a 1” border from the rim of the tin
Sprinkle the top with the coarse sugar
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes (it might take another 5 or 10 minutes more, but if the top is browning too much, cover lightly with foil)
When a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before removing it from the pan
Variations: You can sprinkle the top with icing sugar if you like, it really doesn’t need it, but for the Instagram pic, you can
You can also place sliced figs on the top before baking
Change the fruit up – pitted sour cherries, halved Niagara peaches – really any fruit you like
Add some nuts – walnuts, hazelnuts or sliced almonds