03 September 2015

Fig Almond Upside-Down Cake - Gluten-Free

Fig Upside-Down Cake / www.delightfulrepast.com

Is it just that I don't remember, or did fig season come early this year? My friend Jo, who along with her husband maintains a huge organic garden, just gave me a box of figs from their tree. I'm feeling positively autumnal with a fresh fig dessert baking away. 

Since the growers of my figs are gluten-free, I decided to make up a gluten-free cake in their honor. Not a fan of any gluten-free blends on the market, I make up my own. Different blends for different purposes. In this case, I thought ground almonds and coconut flour would go great with figs; and I threw in some tapioca flour, just because. Would have used some sorghum flour, my favorite, but I was out of it. Might have added 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum, but I wanted to see if it would be fine without it. It was.

I worked from my regular upside-down cake recipe that I developed long ago. (If you prefer a traditional yellow cake, here's my regular Fig Upside-Down Cake.) Since this one is gluten-free, I added a bit more bit more liquid. Turned out well, so here it is! For best texture, serve at room temperature. When chilled, the butter in the cake hardens and the cake seems less cake-y and more like a bar.

By the way, have you subscribed to Delightful Repast yet? Just go to the "Follow me by email so you'll never miss another recipe" right above the "Follow me on Twitter" button in the sidebar. You'll automatically get an email once a week when I post a new recipe or giveaway or whatever.


Fig Upside-Down Cake / www.delightfulrepast.com

Fig Almond Upside-Down Cake 

(Makes one 8-inch round cake, 8 servings)

Note: If you're allergic to almonds, use sorghum flour instead. 

10 (about) small figs, halved
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/3 packed cup (1.75 ounces/51 grams) ground almonds or almond meal
1/3 dip-and-sweep cup (1.75 ounces/51 grams) coconut flour
1/3 dip-and-sweep cup (1.5 ounces/41 grams) tapioca flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon mace or 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
Milk to make 2/3 cup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg 

1 Preheat oven* to 350F/180C/Gas4. In the microwave, melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in an 8-inch round Pyrex baking dish. (If you're using a metal 8-inch round pan, you can do your butter melting in a separate dish.) Swirl the melted butter to grease the sides of the pan. Add the brown sugar to the butter in the bottom and blend. Spread mixture evenly. Place fig halves, cut side down, in a pleasing pattern. Set aside. 

Note: I baked this in my toaster oven and decided on a whim to bake it at 325F/165C/Gas3 instead. Worked fine. Usually I grind almonds in the blender or food processor, but this time I decided to try the immersion blender with its chopper/grinder attachment (like a mini food processor). Worked beautifully. 

2 In mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed* for one minute to blend. Add the 5 tablespoons softened butter, milk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed for 1 1/2 minutes, then add the egg and mix 1 1/2 minutes longer.

Note: Or do it by hand, as I usually do. Just whisk together the dry ingredients; use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients; add the milk, egg and vanilla; beat by hand for a couple minutes. Couldn't be easier! 

3 Spread the batter evenly over the figs with a rubber spatula. Run a knife through just the batter, not disturbing the figs, a couple of times to break up any large air bubbles. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, loosen edges with knife, and invert immediately onto a platter. Replace any figs that did not release from the pan. Let cool before serving with whipped cream (unsweetened, just a dash of vanilla extract).

Disclosure: Some posts contain links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com. If you purchase something from Amazon through one of my links, I receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use toward the expenses of running this blog. Thanks for supporting Delightful Repast when you shop at Amazon!

28 comments:

Thomas "Sully" Sullivan said...

Dear Jeani the Genius of the Oven – I have tried mixing your chemical formulation known as Fig-Almond Upside Down Cake – Gluten-Free and just ate my first sample. Can’t wait for the second one! But I can only stand on my head so long, and it is hard to swallow that way. Is there an alternate recipe substituting Right Side Up for Upside Down? Ohhh…I’m dizzy. (But you knew that…).

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Yes, Sully, I know what you mean -- I can only stand on my head for so long! :D

Cranberry Morning said...

Living in northwestern Wisconsin, I didn't even know there was a fig season... or actually never thought about it! How wonderful to be gifted with figs! The cake looks amazing. Love figs and almonds. Yum!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Judy! I think of you when I post something gluten-free!

Bernideen said...

That cake looks wonderful and I haven't made anything with figs for a long time. We had a huge tree growing up in Virginia. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!

Ida said...

This looks quite yummy.

Unknown said...

oh my goodness, that's divine. I do adore an upside down cake, I love how gooey they are and this with figs, gorgeous!

Angie's Recipes said...

mmm..figs..can't get enough this autumn fruit. This gf cake looks magically delicious, Jean.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Bernideen, thank you. Reminds me, how I'd love to visit Virginia again. My paternal grandmother's family was in western Virginia for centuries, so I should visit that area.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Ida! I hope you'll try it soon.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Dom, thank you so much! Compliments from a real chef count double! :-)

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Angie, I actually thought of you when I made it! The way you always incorporate different grains and flours in your recipes.

Margaret D said...

The fig cake looks delicious...when i get home I should try and make one..

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, whiteangel. Yes, do make one soon -- it's pretty quick and easy!

April J Harris said...

What a beautiful upside down cake! I love that you have made it gluten free, Jean. And how lovely to have fresh figs from your neighbours! Thank you for being a part of the Hearth and Soul hop. Pinned and shared!

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

April, thank you for the hop and the pins and shares! Much appreciated. Next thing I make with figs is going to be fig rolls.

Amy at love made my home said...

It was free from week on the Great British Bake Off this week, a few of the contestants could have done with a great recipe like this one! How your fig growers enjoyed it! xx

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, Amy! I love GBBO, though I just watch it on YouTube (AND I can't find Season 6 Episode 2, for some reason!).

Kathy said...

Thank you for sharing such a great recipe at the Recipe Swap.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Kathy, thank *you*!

Joanne said...

I gave Jeannie the figs, and she makes a masterpiece! Moist and figgy (but not too figgy). Thank you for my piece of yummy cake, Jeannie!:)

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank *you* for the figs!

Anonymous said...

This looks fabulous! Thank you for linking up at the Creative K Kids’ Tasty Tuesdays! It’s great to party with you! I have pinned your post to our Tasty Tuesdays Pinterest Board! I hope to see you again this week! xo

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thanks, creativelyhomespun! I try to "hop" around every week, but I've been slammed these past couple months. Wonder how you moms manage to blog regularly!

Pauline Wiles said...

Is it me, or are upside down cakes so much more fun than the right-way-up kind? Maybe I just associate them with my childhood. I love figs - something I discovered relatively recently. I'm off to check out the other recipe, too.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Pauline, I think so too! Much more fun! Glad you've discovered figs; they're wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Hello Jean, I have made this cake once before and my husband and I absolutely loved it. My family will be joining us for dinner tonight so I wanted to treat them with this delicious cake but unfortunately it is not Fig season at the moment in Melbourne Aus. Do you have any hints as to what could be substituted? My first thought was banana

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Thank you! I'm so glad you like it! I've never tried it with banana -- might be good! Can you get frozen sliced peaches? That I know would work well. Do let me know what you end up doing and how it turns out.