Fig Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 quart canned or 2 (1 lb. 1 oz.) jars  figs, drained reserving juice

1 cup chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugar; beat in eggs.  Sift together dry ingredients.   Combine milk and 1/2 cup fig juice, add alternately to egg mixture; beat until smooth.  Add vanilla.  Chop figs, reserving 2/3 cup for filling.  Fold in figs and pecans.  Pour into two greased round cake pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.  Cool.

 

Filling:

 

1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1/3 cup fig juice
2/3 cup figs, chopped

Cook juice and cornstarch until clear.  Fold in figs.  Cool.  Spread between layers of fig cake.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup milk
1 3/4: cups sifted powdered sugar

Melt butter; add brown sugar; boil over low heat 2 minutes, stirring.  Add milk; bring to boil.  Remove from heat and cool.  Add powdered sugar (sifted).  Beat frosting until it stiffens and loses its gloss.  Spread on cake.

Figs are one of the great things about the living in the South.  When we lived in Madison, Carolyn and I spent a lot of time climbing the fig trees, where we could hide among the big leaves.  In July we sold figs to neighbors and friends for 25 cents a quart, and we ate figs and cream for breakfast.  Aunt Opal had a fig tree that seemed to produce bushels of figs every year.  This is her recipe.