This complexly flavored cake requires nothing more than a few turns of the whisk to make. It’s delicious on its own—with its crisp, honeyed crust and moist, aromatic crumb—but it’s even more tasty topped with caramelized figs.

This recipe was featured as part of our Baked Sweets and Fall Ingredients photo galleries.

  • Yields: 8 to 10 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 1 hr 50 mins 
  • Active: 20 mins

Ingredients (15)

For the cake:

  • Butter, for coating the pan
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 cups honey
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature

For the topping:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
  • 2 pints Mission figs, halved (about 2 pounds)
  • 1/2 cup honey liqueur, such as Bärenjäger
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

For the cake:

  1. Heat the oven to 325°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 10-inch springform pan with butter; set aside.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and clove in a large bowl to break up any lumps and aerate; set aside. Whisk together honey, oil, coffee, sugar, and eggs in another large bowl until eggs are broken up and mixture is smooth and combined. Add dry mixture to wet and stir just until combined.
  3. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out completely clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a rack, and let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the inside perimeter of the pan and remove the springform ring.

For the topping:

  1. While the cake is cooling, add the butter to a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the foaming subsides, add the figs cut side down. Cook undisturbed until browned, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add the liqueur and honey, stir to coat the figs, and cook until the syrup is golden brown and the figs are soft but still intact, about 10 minutes. Top the cake with the fig mixture and serve.