Fig Olive Oil Cake with a Soft Crumb

Fig Olive Oil Cake with a Soft Crumb keeps the shopping list focused on olive oil, sugar, and milk. It serves 16 people.

Count on 30 minutes of prep, 25 minutes of cooking, 1 hour of resting, about 1 hour from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

Cake

• 2 cups olive oil
• 2 ⅓ cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

Ricotta Honey Filling

• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 tablespoon honey

Ricotta Whipped Cream

• 1 cup ricotta
• 2 teaspoons confectioner's sugar — or honey if you'd like
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cup heavy cream — cold

Topping

• 2 dry pints fresh figs — quartered

How the cooking goes

1. Warm the oven to 350°F conventional. Spray and line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment.
2. Zest the orange directly into the sugar then let it sit while you measure the remaining ingredients.
3. Whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour in a bowl; keep it to one side. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar with zest, milk, and orange juice until the mix looks even.
4. Beat in the dry ingredients until very few lumps remain. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. You can fold through some chopped figs at this point if you like. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the surface is deep gold and the center gives slight resistance when pressed lightly.
5. Cool the cakes completely in their pans before turning out onto a rack or cake stand.
6. Process the ricotta with a food processor or immersion blender until completely smooth. Reserve 1 cup for the whipped cream. Mix the remaining ricotta with 1 tablespoon honey for the filling, then refrigerate until ready to use.
7. In the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the reserved 1 cup ricotta, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract, and cold heavy cream. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
8. Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Spread the ricotta honey filling over the top. Add sliced fresh figs over the filling if desired, then set the second layer on top.
9. Mound all of the whipped cream on top, pile on the quartered figs, drizzle with honey, and serve.

After it comes off the heat

Let the pan settle before you slice, so the crumb stays together. Cover leftovers once they are cool.

If you want another plate from Cakes, open Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake Baked Until the Center Springs Back and Guinness Chocolate Cake Baked Until the Center Springs Back.