Hobby farm living has been a part of my life since we moved to the country and decided to make a home for a couple of cute little hens. That was the start of something I never anticipated. Imagine this Jersey Girl’s surprise when our sweet hens began to leave us beautiful, nutritious eggs! At that moment, my wholesome-real food-loving self was hooked on this lifestyle and began exploring other hobby farm experiences. Next came beekeeping. After a few weeks, we were second-guessing ourselves on that decision! You have to work much harder for that “liquid gold,” aka honey than you have to for eggs!

The hobby of farming became addictive, and we started a fig orchard. Every summer, I find it a thrilling challenge to climb a tall ladder to the tops of the fig trees for those sweet gems, eating as I pick!

We began experimenting with aeroponics and found our honeybees thrive on the minerals. At the same time, they buzz around the garden pollinating the beautiful blooms. It’s a glorious life here, and I hope to share a piece of it with you. This delicious recipe is inspired by all we harvest here on our hobby farm nestled in the North Georgia mountains.

Real Food Spongy Fig Cakes

Ingredients for the cakes:

• One 3/4 cup soft wheat flour, freshly milled (if you don’t have a source for newly ground flour, use 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour can to give favorable baking results)
• One 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon unprocessed sea salt or Himalayan salt
• Two eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cups honey granules (or any unprocessed pure evaporated cane sugar)
• 12 teaspoons of butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted
• 2 teaspoons of orange extract
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cashew or almond milk

Ingredients for the fig layer**:

• 2 pounds fresh figs from your local farmer, puréed (if you don’t have a source for fresh figs, fresh strawberries will work and be equally as delicious)
• 1C raw honey

**If you don’t want to make the fig filling from scratch, you can use a store-bought fruit jam of your choice with simple non-processed ingredients

Preheat oven to 350

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and honey granules
2. Add the eggs, orange extract, butter and milk to the flour mixture and mix thoroughly to create the spongy cake batter (using a hand mixer if needed)
3. Pour into a toxin-free nonstick 12-muffin tin
4. Bake 20 minutes
5. While the cakes are baking, make the fig filling by heating the fig purée and honey in a tall pan on the stove. Stirring constantly on medium-high heat (using an oven mitt is helpful to prevent burning from potential splashes from hot fruit mixture), let the mixture come to a boil. Boil 10 minutes, being careful not to burn yourself. Pour the filling into a heat-proof glass jar(s) and let cool. Refrigerate after cooled to thicken into a loose jam-like consistency. Keep refrigerated for long-term storage
6. After cakes are finished baking, let cool completely.
7. Once fig filling has thickened, and cakes have cooled, slice each cake in half horizontally and spoon the fig filling onto the bottom cake layer. Place the top layer of the cake on the fig filling layer to make a perfectly portioned “layer cake.”