This is a moist and delicious cake sweetened with fig jam and topped with a tangy buttermilk glaze. It's lovely for dessert, mid-afternoon snack, or even breakfast! It was inspired by the traditional fig cake of the Ocracoke Islands in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
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Our family loves to vacation in the Outer Banks. Ocracoke Island is at the southern end of the Banks and fig trees are abundant there. It was such a pleasure to learn about their beloved Ocracoke Island fig cake and to create a fig cake recipe of my own.
Ocracoke Island Fig cake is a sweet and moist spice cake full of flavor thanks to fig jam and a buttermilk glaze.
The first ever Ocracoke Fig Cake Bake-Off was held in 2012, and this annual competition continues today, with entrants creating cakes for the "Traditional" or "Innovative" categories. The cakes are judged on presentation, taste and my favorite: figginess! To learn more about the festival, which happens in during the month of August, click here!
Why you'll love it
This is a rich, moist cake full of dried fig flavor! It's a wonderful cake to have at breakfast, bring to a special brunch, or for a midday nosh.
The figs are transformed into a quicky fig jam. This jam, plus a buttermilk glaze, means that the cake is very moist and full of flavor.
🔪 How to make Ocracoke Island Fig Cake
Ingredients:
- Dried Figs: The pitted figs will be turned into a quick compote
- Sugar: It sweetens everything from the jam to the cake to the glaze
- Lemon: A little lemon juice balances the sweetness of the jam
- Eggs: Use large eggs, local and cage-free if possible
- Flour: My go-to all-purpose flour is King Arthur brand
- Spices: Nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, salt, and pepper
- Baking Soda: To give the cake a light texture
- Buttermilk: It helps the cake rise and adds tang to the glaze
- Vegetable Oil: The fat that creates a moist and tender crumb
- Chopped Walnuts: These are traditional, but optional
- Vanilla Extract: Use good quality vanilla like Nielsen-Massey
Step 1: Make the quicky fig jam
Combine chopped, dried figs with sugar, lemon, and water in a saucepan. Simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes until it's thick. Let it cool.
Step 2: Make the cake batter
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Beat the eggs in a mixer until they're frothy, then blend in sugar and oil. Mix the dry ingredients - flour, spices, and baking soda, in a separate bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture in batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix in the quicky fig jam.
Step 3: Fill the pan and bake
Pour the batter into a greased and floured tube or Bundt pan. Bake the cake for about an hour.
Step 4: Make the glaze
While the cake bakes, make the glaze on the stovetop by combining buttermilk, sugar, butter, and dry ingredients. Bring it to a boil, Remove it from the heat, add vanilla, and hold it aside for the cake.
Step 5: Glaze and serve the cake
Invert the baked and slightly cooled cake onto a serving platter. Pour the warm glaze over the top. Slice the cake and serve.
Tips:
- In traditional fig cakes, you may see the recipe call for fig preserves. In this recipe, the quicky fig jam takes the place of those preserves. Because the jam is made fresh by you it's very moist which is perfect for this cake.
- Traditional fig cakes may also call for walnuts. We have no walnut fans in our house so I don't use them. If you are a walnut fan, you can add a ½ cup of chopped walnuts to the batter before baking.
FAQs
Yes! Fresh figs have more water than dried, so you need to make a tweak to use them. See the recipe below for an option to make this recipe with fresh figs.
Yes! Substitute 1-½ cups of store-bought or your own homemade fig jam if you'd like.
In the U.S. "cornstarch" is a fine, white powder that feels silky to the touch. It's used to thicken sauces and pie fillings. In the UK it's called "cornflour", so if you can't find cornstarch you can check for packages of cornflour instead. **Do not use corn meal however, this is much more coarse and not at all the same as cornstarch!
The Ocracoke Island Fig Cake recipe is below! Here are more recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth:
💬 Did this Fig Cake win you First Prize in the Fig Cake Bake-Off? (I hope so!) Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Ocracoke Island Fig Cake
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Ingredients
Ingredients for the Figgy Jam:
- 1½ cups finely chopped dried figs, pitted & stems removed (use about 8 ounces of whole dried figs to yield 1½ cups of chopped figs)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 slices of lemon
- ⅔ cup water
Ingredients for the Cake:
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Ingredients for the Glaze:
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter, melted
- 1½ teaspoons cornstarch (also known as cornflour in the UK)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Make the quicky fig jam:
- Place the chopped figs in a medium-sized saucepan and stir them together with the ½ cup of the sugar, the lemon slices and the ⅔ cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Cover and simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes until it is thickened, stirring it often to prevent the figs from sticking to the bottom. Remove the pan from heat and discard the lemon slices.
- Pour the contents into a heatproof bowl and allow the jam to cool. This will make about 1½ cups (13 ounces) of quicky fig jam.
Make the cake batter:
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan.
- Beat the eggs in a stand mixer until they're frothy and light yellow. Add in the 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the oil, and the 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix until everything is combined.
- Mix together in a separate bowl the flour, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, salt, black pepper and the 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Add the dry mix to the egg mixture in two or three additions, alternating with the ½ cup of buttermilk. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- Slowly mix the quicky fig jam into the batter. (If you're using walnuts, add them now.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes until a tester inserted in the cake comes out clean. Remove the pan to a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the glaze:
- Combine the ½ cup of buttermilk, the ½ cup of sugar, melted butter, corn starch, and the ¼ teaspoon of baking soda in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Once it comes to a boil, immediately remove the pan from heat and keep stirring. It will be foamy and will escape the pan if not stirred!
- Stir in the 1 teaspoon of vanilla and then let the glaze sit to wait for the cake.
Finish the cake:
- Have a serving platter ready for the cake: the platter should have enough room and high-enough edges to hold excess glaze.
- After the cake has cooled for 15 minutes, run a knife around the edges to loosen it from the pan. Invert the pan onto the serving platter and gently remove the pan from the cake.
- Pour the warm glaze evenly over the top of the still-warm cake.
- Allow the cake to cool for another 10-15 minutes. Then slice it and serve!
- Makes 10 generous slices
Option: To Use Fresh Figs
One of my readers, Sybil, made this recipe with fresh figs (Thanks Sybil!) Here is how to she recommends using fresh figs in this recipe:
- For the quicky fig jam step, omit the dried figs and the ⅔ cup of water. Use 3 cups of sliced, fresh figs instead.
- Cook them in the saucepan with the lemon slices and sugar as directed above until the quicky jam has thickened - this may take a little longer than the 10 minutes.
- Use this quicky fig jam and continue with the recipe!
Option: Use Mini Loaf Pans
- To make mini loaves of this Fig Cake, divide the batter between five greased and floured mini loaf pans (6-inch size.) Bake the mini loaves for about 35 minutes until a tester inserted in the centers comes out clean.
Notes
- In traditional fig cakes you may see the recipe call for fig preserves. In this recipe the quicky fig jam takes the place of those preserves. Because the jam is made fresh by you it's very moist which is perfect for this cake.
- If you'd rather, you can use store-bought or your own fig jam/preserves. Use 1½ cups of jam/preserves in the recipe, and skip the quicky fig jam directions.
- Traditional fig cakes may also call for walnuts. We have no walnut fans in our house so I don't use them. If you are a walnut fan, you can add a ½ cup of chopped walnuts to the batter before baking.
Bea
I LOVE this delicious, moist cake. It reminds me of home in New Orleans. I live in NC now but grew up eating old fashioned fig cake & this recipe doesn't disappoint. In moving I had lost my recipe that was over 100 years old. At first I didn't have oven temp or measurements. It was measured in tea cups & ladles but I finally had it figured out. Thank you for sharing this one it's really quite delicious 😋
Nancy Mock
Bea, I'm so happy to hear that my fig cake reminds you of home and of your old recipe. That's a shame that it's lost but I hope it'll find its way back to you some day. Thank you so much for trying my recipe and sharing your story with me!
Darlene in Nova Scotia
Hello Nancy, I am so happy to find your recipe for this fig cake. It looks so delicious! I purchased a bottle of Italian Fig Vanilla puree at Costco, it was big disappointment. The vanilla is so strong it over powers the fig flavour so I need to bake with it. As soon as I get buttermilk I will make this cake (really there's no substitute for the real buttermilk). I suspect if I leave out the vanilla in your recipe it will be perfect. I'll be back with a review soon.
Thank you Nancy.
Have a great day.
Nancy Mock
Hi Darlene, I think this sounds like a great way to use up the fig puree. That's too bad that the vanilla is overpowering because the puree does sound good. I think you're right about the fig cake recipe, if the vanilla is that strong that you may not need any extract at all. I hope you'll let me know how the cake turns out—thanks for giving my recipe a try!