Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
Makes 2 cakes
For the cake batter
- 250 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour (plain flour), sifted
- 15 g (1 Tbsp) baking powder
- 6 medium eggs (or 5 large)
- 120 ml (½ cup) neutral oil (sunflower, grapeseed or a mix)
- 200 ml (¾ cup + 1 Tbsp) water (or milk)
- 5 g (1 tsp) salt
For the filling
- 180 g (6 oz) goat cheese
- 200 g (7 oz) figs (6 figs), cut into (8) wedges
- a few sprigs of thyme leaves
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 50 g (½ cup) chopped hazelnuts (or walnuts, optional)
Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F) fan/convection. Line your pan with parchment paper (or grease it lightly). In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder, then add the eggs, oil and honey while stirring, followed by the water (or milk). Add the crumbled goat cheese, the hazelnuts, the thyme and the figs cut into pieces (set aside a few wedges to decorate the tops of the cakes). Season with pepper.
As soon as the batter is smooth, pour it into the pans and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon if needed. Scatter the reserved figs on top and bake for 45-50 minutes on a rack in the middle/lower part of the oven.
This way of baking, similar to the one for the bouscoutou sponge cake, gives a moist texture that isn’t dry at all. Check for doneness with a toothpick or the tip of a knife; it should come out clean.
Serve with a nice endive salad.
Tips and variations
- You can replace the goat cheese with blue cheese, Roquefort or feta, as in the fall fig salad, which is also lovely at this time of year.
- If you don’t have figs, this savory cake is just as delicious with pears!
- For mini cakes, reduce the baking time to 30 minutes.
- Unlike other savory cakes such as the charcuterie and olive cake, the goat cheese and fig cake doesn’t freeze well. Since the filling is softer, I don’t recommend freezing it.