My pack rat de-cluttering started out well this week, but has since taken a detour as I’ve found that cleaning tends to be exhausting work! Besides, I’ve had research and writing I needed to do and yesterday decided it was time to try out some new recipes. So I baked bread (with a mix in the bread-maker, lest you think I’m overly ambitious – besides, on my own, bread does not rise for me), apple pie (this I usually do quite well), and Abigail’s Fig Cake (a recipe I found in a little book called Healing Foods from the Bible.
Now normally, I can multitask, but there are some things I don’t do well and one is talking on the phone and following a recipe. I’ve had jellos not set due to this unfortunate distraction, and ingredients get miscounted. In this case, I needed to cut a recipe by thirds, which led to my version of Abigail’s Fig Cakes.
It all started when I bought fig preserves instead of real figs. I knew I wanted to make this recipe months ago, so I bought the jar of preserves in anticipation. So I pulled the jar from the cupboard and opened the book to the recipe. Then I put headphones on and attached them to my phone and dialed a friend. So far, so good.
First ingredients were butter and honey. A cup of butter and a half a cup of honey. No problem. I tossed them in the mixer and turned it on waiting for it to get creamy. Next ingredients, fig preserves. Three cups of fig preserves, which meant I should have bought three jars, not one. Oops.
I looked at my butter honey mixture. Too late to separate. But wait, honey butter on toast is a good thing! So I measured it into thirds and saved two-thirds out for later use on toast, leaving one half cup in the mixer. All good.
I poured the fig preserves into the measuring cup. Exactly a cup. Whew! Next ingredient – 5 egg yolks. So I got the carton of eggs from the frig and started separating eggs from the whites in two separate glass dishes.
Somewhere during the conversation with my friend, my mind registered the yolks as whites. It also failed to notice that I needed to cut the eggs by thirds as well. Double oops.
Before I realized my mistake, I had tossed five egg WHITES into the batter.
At this point I paused. Um…what did I just do? I glanced at the recipe again while trying to keep myself focused on our conversation without distraction because I really did want to talk to my friend. But the recipe said I was supposed to beat the egg whites and fold them in last. I had just dumped them in unbeaten – ahead of the yolks, the flour, the yogurt, or the cinnamon, raisins, and nuts. Oh boy…
The rest of the recipe I managed to cut to the right amounts, and since it seemed foolish to toss it out unbaked, I finished adding the ingredients and popped it into the oven. Baking time was supposed to be 90 minutes but given I’d cut the recipe and it only fit into a 9 x 9 pan, I checked it at 60. It could have used 45-50 as the edges were a bit overdone. But overall – the fig cake was a success! I had two pieces, which I should not have done (small pieces), and it tasted like more.
So here is the original along with my version of Abigail’s Fig Cake. Maybe I’ll try the book’s version next time. Then again maybe not…
Abigail’s Fig Cake
1 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
3 cups figs or fig preserves
5 egg yolks, beaten (save whites)
3 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 T cinnamon
5 egg whites, beaten
Probably fits in 9 x 13 pan – bake at 350 for 60-90 minutes. Check after 60 with toothpick.
Mix as described below
Cream butter and honey together before adding the beaten egg yolks. Stir until smooth. Add flour and yogurt, alternating. Add nuts, raisins, and cinnamon. Fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into greased cake pan. Bake as directed above. Serve with honey.
(Jill’s altered version)
1/3 cup butter
less than 1/4 cup honey
1 cup fig preserves
2-3 egg yolks
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup pecans (because I couldn’t find the walnuts)
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 T cinnamon
5 egg whites
Spray 9 x 9 pan with cooking spray and bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes.
Cream butter and honey. Add figs, egg whites, egg yolks, flour, and yogurt. Beat until smooth. Add chopped nuts raisins and cinnamon. Pour into greased pan. Bake as directed above.
Enjoy~
