Sponge Fig Cake with Olive Oil

My fig tree still has very small fruits but Californian figs, large and sweet as honey, have already arrived to all the stores around me. And again this year I cannot resist them. I love figs. I eat them daily through the whole season when they are available. Most often just for lunch with a piece of baguette and prosciutto or pecorino cheese. Sweet figs, soft bread, and salty smoked ham taste amazing together.

This Sunday, having another box of black and ripe figs, I decided to make a cake with them. I have not been cooking and particularly baking for a long time, as the summertime in DC does not encourage baking at all. But cooler days and almost cold nights make me crave again for a piece of a home-made cake.

Although baking fresh figs may seem a bit of a waste, I am sure they can enhance any simple cake. The recipe I have also calls also ground almonds and olive oil. You cannot go wrong with delicious sweet figs and other simple but good quality ingredients.

Sponge Fig Cake
(For a 9-inch baking pan)

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh ripe black figs,
3 large eggs, room temperature,
2/3 cup icing sugar,
2/3 cup all purpose flour,
1/2 cup ground almonds (almond flour),
3 tbsp olive oil,
1 tsp baking powder,
a pinch of salt,
extra icing sugar for dusting,
1 tbsp soft butter for greasing the pan,
1 tbsp flour for coating the pan.

Preparation:
1. Wash figs, dry them and cut in quarters,

2. Grease the baking pan with butter and dust with flour.
3. Preheat oven to 325F.
4. Using an electric mixer beat eggs with sugar until pale and mousse like.
5. Add to the egg mixture flour, baking powder, ground almonds, and salt. Mix all the ingredients using mixer.
6. Add to the batter 3 tbsp olive oil and mix again.
7. Transfer the batter to the baking pan and arrange quarters of figs on top, pushing them gently inside.
8. Bake for about 40 minutes.
9. Let the cake cool and remove it from the pan. Figs most likely will be at the bottom so turn the cake upside down. Place on a serving plate and dust with icing sugar.

Red Onion Pasta--A Minimalistic Dish

I am back!

For the first time since I started this blog I have not been sharing any recipe for such a long time--over a month. I decided to go on a long vacation to Poland without taking my computer with me. I just took the camera. It was supposed to be a truly relaxing, family time. But it turned out it was rather a punishment. I mean the lack of the computer part. I just convinced myself one more time that living without internet in modern times is not possible. I suffered a great deal. Not only that I could not post anything but I was not able to check any simple information that I usually find through the internet.

But visiting my blog sporadically I noticed that my absence only helped my popularity and recently I almost doubled my daily readership. Nevertheless, even if my today's post will lower my excellent August performance, I feel a renewed urge to post another recipe and, after that, hundreds of new ones that already waiting. I am afraid I am addicted to it now.

I came home two days ago after a month of absence, tired after twelve hours of flight. When in the evening my family got hungry I checked my food resources and options. I opened the refrigerator and except a couple of food jars, a piece of dry Parmesan, oil and vinegar, I found there only a one fresh vegetable left--two large red onions. What do I do with that? Nothing simpler. A delicious one-ingredient pasta, which served with a glass of red wine made my home warm and homely in no time. I saw this recipe somewhere once and it luckily came to my mind at that moment of culinary desperation.

I loved the result. Thanks to a bit of sugar and a good dose of balsamic vinegar, the onion got a slightly sweet and almost winey in taste that blended wonderfully with the mild taste of pasta. Fresh parsley (from my herb garden) and a lot of freshly ground pepper made this minimalistic dish a real feast. Easy and tasty, a great transition to the upcoming fall.

Red Onion Pasta
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
1 lb penne pasta,
2 large red onions,
3 tbsp olive oil,
1 tbsp brown sugar,
3 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar of Modena,
2 tbsp chopped flat leaves parsley, chopped,
shredded Parmesan cheese,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Cook pasta in a large pot with a tbsp of salt until al dente.
2. While the pasta is cooking peel off the onion. Cut it in half and slice it finely.

3. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan, add onion, and fry on a moderate heat until soft for about five minutes.
4. Add a tbsp of sugar and fry mixing until the sugar dissolves.
5. Pour vinegar over the onion, mix and fry for another minute. Season with salt.
6. Drain pasta on a colander and transfer to a serving bowl. Spread onion on top and follow with chopped parsley, shreded Parmesan, and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.

Chilled Almond Soup--From Spain

I used to think that there were very few cold soups in the world because, unlike warm soups, they cannot be made from anything. I also believed that I already knew most of them. But then I keep stumbling on new recipes for cold soups I have never heard of or expected that the ingredients that are used to make them can yield something so interesting and delicious.

I had one such discovery with the cold tomatillo soup, which now is on my regular repertoire for hot summer days. But my most recent discovery is the cold almond soup. I noticed it in a tiny Spanish cuisine book and then again in the culinary section of Metropolitan Home.

I tried this soup for the first time a month ago when the weather in Washington was unbearably hot. Incidentally, I also happened to be on a liquid diet at that time and was looking for protein-rich food that could be made liquid. Ground almonds in that recipe seemed a perfect solution.

So I must warn you that, unlike most other cold soups, this one in not particularly light. A small amount will make a very filling serving. But its unique taste made me reach back for this recipe already twice. You can use the regular skinned almonds but if you have Marcona almonds, which the original recipe calls for, I encourage you to use them. Their taste makes quite a difference.

Chilled Almond Soup
(Serves six)

Ingredients:
1/4 lb one day-old firm white bread,
3 garlic cloves minced,
1 cup skinned, toasted Marcona almonds,
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil,
1/4 green grapes, seedless,
1/4 cup crème fraîche or crema fresca,
1 and 1/2 cup water,
3 tbsp white vine vinegar,
sea salt and white pepper to taste.

Extra ingredients for garnish:
5 tsp of olive oil,
12 grapes cut in half,
12 Marcona almonds.

Preparation:
1. Put the bread in a medium bowl and cover with water. Let it soak for 30 minutes until soft. Squeeze it gently out in hands to get rid of the water but leave the bread still moist.
2. In a food processor purée garlic, almonds, and olive oil. Add grapes, bread, crème fraîche and water to make smooth purée consistency of heavy cream.
3. Season with salt and peeper. Cover and chill.
4. Before serving divide soup between small bowls, garnish with olive oil, grapes, and almonds, and serve.