twigg studios

a british baking blog

black tea poached fig and plum cake with rosemary blackberry frosting

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I had some fruit left over, (plums figs and blackberries) and decided to make this cake. I poached the plums and figs in some earl grey and added it into the sponge. I whipped crème fraiche and double cream together to make the frosting and flavoured it with some rosemary syrup and some blackberries.

I’m the sort of person the requires there to be cake in the house at all times, for afternoon tea, or just in case any one comes over. my partner never understands why I am making “another cake” but it has to be done. he never seems to mind when he’s eating it though. i think it is more because the kitchen looks like a tornado has passed through it every time I’m in the kitchen (I’m not a tidy baker and manage to get flour everywhere).

I love to try and mix flavours to keep the cakes different and I think that rosemary goes well with plums and earl grey goes well with figs and plums so I decided to try mixing them all together.

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to poach the fruit

  • 4 plums
  • 3 large bursa figs
  • 2 earl grey tea bags
  • 120g 1/2 cup caster sugar
place the sugar and tea bags in a pan, slice the plums and figs in half and place in the pan and cover with water. bring to the boil and turn the heat down and leave to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
once the fruit soft drain the liquid (keeping 3 tbsp to flavoir cake) and slice the plums into small chunks and scoop the centre of the figs away from the flesh discard the flesh and keep the soft insides place in a dish to cool.
for sponge
  • 220g caster sugar 1 cup
  • 220g butter 1 cup
  • 4 eggs
  • 220g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
preheat the oven to 350f 180c
grease and line two tins
cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes until pale and creamy. then add the eggs one at a time, making sure you properly combine each egg before adding the next one. then add the vanilla extract and the left over 3 tbsp of poaching liquid.
finally sift in the flour and salt and fold in. pour between the two tins and bake for about 45 minutes.
for the rosemary syrup
  • 200ml water
  • 1 cup 220g caster sugar
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary
in a pan add the sugar, water and rosemary and bring to the boil then reduce for 5 to 10 minutes until it has turned in to a thick syrup. pour into a container and let cool.
frosting
  • 200ml double cream
  • 200ml crème fraiche
  • 5 tbsp. icing sugar
  • 80 ml rosemary syrup
  • 10 blackberries

in a bowl whip the cream, crème fraiche and icing sugar once thick add the rosemary syrup and blackberries and mix until stiff

spoon some frosting on to one of the cake layers then add the other on top and spoon on some more filling, use a pallet knife to spread the frosting around the cake

decorate with rosemary, sliced figs, plums and blackberries

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Reader Interactions

23 Comments

  1. oh wow, this one is sooooo unique!

    ok, till now i never gave it much though but man oh man are sliced figs ugly or what? they look like brains, haha – but i absolutely love the way they taste (and smell!)

    One of my all-time very favorite candle companies is tyler candles and they have one called mediterranean fig and it is to-die-for awesome

    ok, now, what did you think of the flavor of this cake? did you love it? so-so? hate it? and your partner?
    would love to try it sometime, would love to know what you thought of how it came out

    thx

  4. Just a quick question? Do you put the poached fruit into the cake mixture or in between the cake layers?

  5. Hi – this is such a beautiful recipe. I can’t always get figs all year round, do you think it would be ok if I used figs I had frozen for the poached fruit? I would defrost them first and they would still be whole or half figs?

  8. Hey there!
    Amazing receipe; in the unfortunate event of fig drought in supermarkets, any recommendation for what to replace them with. This is more like a SOS request as the cake is already fitted into the Christmas dinner menu?

    Happy Holidays,
    Andreea

  10. Hi! Im sorry but did you mean 10 inch? I am looking to make this cake for this christmas and I woulnd want to ruin it! Sincerely!

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