Almond, Black Pepper and Fig Cake With Tamarind Glaze

By Nik Sharma

Total Time: 1½ hours
Rating: 4(234)
Notes: Read community notes

This cake celebrates the sweet, jamlike texture of juicy ripe figs against the backdrop of a fragrant almond cake, with a sweet-and-sour tamarind glaze as contrast. As the cake bakes, the fresh figs release their juices, which begin to caramelize and take on the flavor of black pepper. Tellicherry black peppercorns and long pepper, if available, are wonderful options to explore for their unique aromas. Frozen fresh figs will also work in this cake. Just remember to thaw them to room temperature and drain off any excess liquid before using. And, make sure to use tamarind paste, not concentrate. Thick, syrupy concentrates lack the fruity flavor of tamarind and carry a noticeable artificial aftertaste.

Featured in: The Simple Joys of Tamarind

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Ingredients

Yield:12 servings

For the Cake

½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted, plus more for greasing the baking dish
12 to 14fresh ripe figs
1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1½cups/300 grams granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons
2cups/225 grams blanched almond flour
1cup/130 grams all-purpose flour
1teaspoon baking powder
½teaspoon baking soda
¼teaspoon kosher salt
3large eggs, chilled
1cup/240 milliliters full-fat plain, unsweetened Greek yogurt
1teaspoon almond extract

For the Tamarind Glaze

1cup/125 grams confectioners’ sugar
2tablespoons tamarind paste (not concentrate)
1teaspoon olive oil

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with a little butter.
Step 2
Trim and discard the stalks from the figs. Slice the figs in half lengthwise, and place them in a small bowl. Sprinkle the pepper and 2 tablespoons sugar over the figs, and toss to coat well.
Step 3
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift twice through a fine mesh sieve to remove any clumps and return to the large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, 1½ cups sugar, eggs and yogurt until smooth and combined. (It will be very thick.) Whisk in the almond extract.
Step 4
Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the whisked liquid ingredients. Using an outward-to-inward circular motion, fold with a spatula until the mixtures are completely combined, and no visible flecks of dry ingredients remain. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Top the cake with the sliced figs with the cut sides facing up.
Step 5
Bake cake until the surface is golden brown and the figs release their juices and turn slightly caramelized, about 1 hour, rotating halfway through baking. If it’s browning too quickly, loosely tent the cake with foil. The cake is done when a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the baked cake and let cool for 15 minutes.
Step 6
As the cake cools, prepare the tamarind glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, tamarind paste and oil until smooth. If the glaze is too thick, it can be thinned by adding a teaspoon or two of water.
Step 7
Once the cake has cooled for 15 minutes, pour the glaze over, and serve warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate any leftovers and eat within 3 days.

Ratings

4 out of 5

234 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Liz3 years ago

To prevent the figs from sinking to the bottom of the pan, don't sugar them. The sugared fruit creates a sort of syrupy Slip'n Slide that funnels the fig halves downward during baking. I put the recipe together as instructed, except for eliminating the 2 tablespoons of sugar tossed with the fruit, and laid the figs on top of the batter without pressing them in. They remained on top with cake puffed gently around them, just as in the recipe photo.

david o3 years ago

Like any millennial I decided to use 1/3 the amount of sugar in the cake and 1/2 the sugar in the glaze, and per my style I completely overloaded on fruit. I used a ten inch springform pan and arranged the figs in some very pleasing concentric circles. It required about 15 extra min because of the fruit and smaller surface area. So, so good. Making the tamarind paste from scratch is also a treat, if you like the experience of squeezing tangy brown goop (which i do).

Jane M.3 years ago

I just made this and it was delicious. Most of my figs sank into the middle of the cake, which I guess is because I put a few extra, but luckily the cake still baked through. At 350 mine was also quite done after 45 minutes, so I would start checking early (as a more experienced baker probably would have anyway). Really loved the flavors!

Cheryl3 years ago

I got tamarind paste from Rani Foods, which worked nicely. They have a website and ship pretty quickly.

a cook3 years ago

If your figs sink to the bottom then flip the cake over before you glaze it. Viola- they are now on top.

Nini Kara3 years ago

Good overall. Texture, density and moisture were perfect. However I found the cake too sweet. Not only that, but the sugar drowned out the other flavours. So I would consider reducing the sugar and amplifying the pepper. I'll definitely make it again because I think it could be a fabulous if tweaked a little.

GC3 years ago

Hi! I made the cake this morning. The base cake is very delicious and moist and seems very adaptable! I recommend it as a general almond cake base! I did not have tamarind or figs so in the step calling for prep of the figs, I mixed sliced nectarines with a little sugar and some bourbon. When cake batter was ready, I added the nectarines instead of figs called for and just skipped tamarind. The cooking time was an extra 20 minutes but worked fine and half of cake already gone! Great cake recipe!

B963 years ago

This turned out nicely! An hour in the oven seems much too long, we took ours out at 43 minutes or so. The glaze was also a head scratcher: after combining sugar and tamarind we got nothing that remotely looked like a ‘glaze.’ It turns out we used tamarind purée. Thankfully, about four teaspoons of water made the consistency more appropriate for a cake glaze, though it remained a dark chocolate color, not slightly translucent like in the picture.

Michael Winters2 years ago

I made double the Tamarind sauce and let each guest put as much as they like on the cake. This small change made guests happy as some like a lot of tang, and others very little.

Mer9 months ago

This was delicious & so so moist and dense and perfect. Felt like the first real cake I baked from scratch and it came out perfectly! I had to sub in half labneh for the yogurt and I did 50g less sugar just for my personal taste. Beautiful outcome, TY nyt :) I added a good amount of water like 1/4 cup to the glaze, maybe my type of tamarind paste wasn’t wet enough bc it initially just clumped the sugar with out the added liquid. Big hit, shared with ny neighbors. They loved.

Mer9 months ago

This was delicious & so so moist and dense and perfect. Felt like the first real cake I baked from scratch and it came out perfectly! I had to sub in labneh half labneh for the yogurt and I did 50g less sugar just for my personal taste. Beautiful outcome, TY nyt :) I added a good amount of water like 1/4 cup to the glaze, maybe my type of tamarind paste wasn’t wet enough bc it initially just clumped the sugar with out the added liquid. Big hit, shared with ny neighbors. They loved.

Mer9 months ago

Michael Winters2 years ago

I made double the Tamarind sauce and let each guest put as much as they like on the cake. This small change made guests happy as some like a lot of tang, and others very little.

JAM2 years ago

The brown glaze was not very attractive but I loved the novel (to me) combination of figs and tamarind.

Mchelle2 years ago

I will be making this again and using less sugar in the recipe. I will use no sugar on the figs and cut way back on the sugar in the glaze. As written, I feel the level of sweetness overpowers the almond and fig flavors.

banana2 years ago

I love this cake, have made it three times now. You can sugar the figs as directed, just resist the urge to press them down - they will sink in as it bakes. Also done at around 45 minutes for me.

Sharanya2 years ago

Don’t know if it was because of the Tamcon I used but didn’t think this cake was more than the sum of its parts…maybe I’m just not a fig fan? The almond cake was fluffy and delectable though

Jaime2 years ago

My tamarind paste looks like a block of dried, pitted dates i.e. dry and chunky. It had no moisture to add to the powdered sugar. I used about 1/3 c water and mixed it with an immersion blender to get a glaze.

Jaime2 years ago

My tamarind paste looks like a block of dried, pitted dates, I.e., dry chunks of tamarind. It did. Not separate, smooth out or mix with the powdered sugar and olive oil. I added about 1/3 c water and mixed with the immersion blender in order to get a glaze that poured.

candaceb1083 years ago

I just made this, and for busy cooks, please know that I was in a hurry and did everything wrong. I only made half a batch. I almost forgot the regular flour; I added the sugar to the dry ingredients instead of mixing it with the liquids. I did forget the butter and had to scoop out the pan and figs in order to add it. I used fresh figs, undredged in sugar, but with pepper. I used only about 1 cup sugar. The cake is very forgiving. The cake is delicious even without the tamarind.

Don Palmer3 years ago

I have made this twice. The first time the figs stayed on top and the second they sank into the cake some. Actually the sinking made the cake more custard-like which was delicious. I think it may also depend on how firm or soft ripe the figs are as the latter begin to melt in the heat. Great cake either way.

Ellen3 years ago

Made this twice. It is delicious but even after thinning it considerably and warming it, the glaze is a thick, unattractive glop. Will poke holes in it, tent it, and put it in the over at low temp and hope that the glaze permeates the cake. Next time, I will swirl the glaze into the batter and put only a small amount of very thinned glaze on the top. Both times, I prevented the figs from sinking by baking for 10 min to let the batter firm up a bit. Worked great.

jmack3 years ago

A little disappointing. The glaze was so sugary. I tasted a bit before adding to the cake and it totally over powered the tamarind. I added an additional heaping tablespoon and used about 1/2 of the glaze.

Myra3 years ago

I used a 9" springform pan and cooked the cake for about 75 minutes. It had a nice crunchy "crust" and a soft middle. I didn't do all of the sifting steps and it was fine. Only change I wold make is a bit less almond extract. The tamarind glaze was more of an icing- but makes the cake sing. Just had a piece for breakfast and it was even better than last night.

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