Upside-down pistachio and fig cake
This upside-down pistachio cake with figs is a delicate, lovely, moist teacake. Perfect for parties, afternoon teas, anniversaries, Valentine’s day and other special occasions. I made it with dairy-free spread and gluten-free flour would work too. I only used 150g sugar, as I don’t like really sweet cakes, but do add 50-75g more to the batter if you have a sweet tooth!
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Grease a cake tin and line the base with parchment paper.
- Cut 30g butter/margarine into cubes and put in a small pan and melt it over a low heat. Stir in the juice of 1 orange and 50g of sugar. Bring to the boil, then simmer for about 8 minutes until you get a thick but not too sticky syrup. Pour this into the base of the lined tin.
- Cut the figs into 0.5 cm slices, then line the bottom of the tin with them, covering the syrup. You can add a second layer, if you like, overlapping the first one.
- Put the pistachios in a food processor and whizz until finely ground. Add the remaining butter (cubed), eggs, sugar and orange juice. You can add the grated zest of 1 orange, if it’s organic. Whizz again for a few seconds, until just combined, then move it to a large bowl. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and bicarb. Gently stir until you get a smooth batter, then tip it into the cake tin, over the figs, spreading it out evenly.
- Put the tin on a baking tray (the syrup might leak) and bake in the middle of the oven for 45-50 minutes until golden and cooked through (check it with a skewer – insert it into the cake, if it comes out clean, it’s done). Leave it in the tin for 10 minutes to cool, then carefully turn the cake out onto a cooling rack.
- Peel off the parchment paper and let it cool completely.