Tuesday 9 July 2013

Fig, yoghurt and walnut cake with pomegranate and pistachio


July is a busy month for me as I am off travelling ... again! So I wanted a versatile recipe that I could enter into multiple blog challenges and came across this amazing recipe on dailydelicious. I modified the recipe a tiny bit and the result was sheer perfection. The cake was moist and flavourful and I love the toppings on this cake! It's visually stunning and would be perfect for a party as it looks like you've spent hours in the kitchen but in reality it's fairly simple and straightforward to put together.

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes which is hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and by myself on alternate months. The letter this month is F for figs.



Next to Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Kate from What Kate Baked. Karen who is hosting this month chose Fresh Fruit Treats as the theme for this month. This cake contains figs, pomegranate and lemons so I think it definitely counts!


Fortunately for me, Calendar Cakes hosted by Laura from Laura loves Cakes and Rachel from Dolly Bakes chose fruity bakes for their theme this month. As mentioned the cake is full of fruit so I think it would definitely qualify.

As this cake is made with fresh ingredients and with plenty of love, I am also sending it to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior.


Addendum 4/8/13 - Fiona from London Unattached has created Fabulous First Fridays - a linky to share your special/significant/favourite post from the previous month so in this case July 2013. I'm submitting this lovely cake as it's really quick and easy to put together especially if you need something with a wow factor but don't want to spend hours in the kitchen.




 main ingredients 

 ready to go in the oven 

 cooking the syrup for the cake 

 cooking the pomegranate syrup 

 fresh from the oven with syrup glaze

 with toppings - love the vibrant colours! 

 Perfect for my glass cake stand :) 


Recipe modified slightly from dailydelicious

75g plain flour
80g fine semolina
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g walnuts, roasted, finely ground
2 eggs
260g caster sugar (divided into 110g,110g & 40g)
70g unsalted butter, melted
30ml  vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain yoghurt
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1½ lemons
90ml + 2 tbsp water
1 stick of cinnamon
1 pomegranate, seeds removed
4 green figs, quartered
1-2 tablespoons of pistachios to decorate 

  • Preheat the oven to 170C. 
  • Roast the walnuts in the oven for approximately 8-10 minutes then set aside to cool. Grind the nuts into fine pieces. 
  • Sift the flour, semolina, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
  • Whisk 2 eggs with 110g caster sugar until thick and pale.
  • Add in the flour mixture then the ground walnuts. 
  • In a jug, mix the butter, oil, vanilla extract and yoghurt and pour into the egg and flour mixture and mix well. 
  • Pour into a greased and lined cake tin and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
  • Now make the syrup by placing 110g sugar, 90mls water, zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 cinnamon stick in a saucepan over medium heat.
  • Stir continuously until the sugar has dissolved.
  • Allow to simmer for 5 - 10 minutes.
  • In a separate saucepan, place 40g caster sugar, juice of 1/2 lemon and 2 tbsp water and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
  • Add the pomegranate seeds and continue cooking for a few minutes.
  • Once the cake is ready, remove from the oven and prick holes all over the top with a fork or skewer (do not remove from cake tin yet).
  • Gently pour the spiced syrup all over the cake and allow to cool in the tin. 
  • Once completely cool, place cake on a cake stand and slowly pour the pomegranate syrup on top.
  • Sprinkle with pistachios and place the quartered figs on top. 

30 comments:

  1. This reminds of me of some Greek syrup cakes I made on my blog. It looks beautiful and I love all the flavours.

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  2. Such a beautiful cake, Ros! I love the combination of figs, pomegranates and pistachios - they're wonderful to look at and eat. I love that the syrup gets poured over the cake after it bakes. I'm sure it cakes it so moist!

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    1. The cake was very moist from the yoghurt and syrup. I loved the toppings too although I didn't eat the figs as I don't really like them!

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  3. Look lovely and delicious I love figs!!

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  4. Your cake looks wonderful. I love the figs.

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  5. Stunning! Fantastic ingredients, I love them all and the fresh figs on top look so beautiful!

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  6. Love the beautiful colours on your cake, it looks and sounds so delicious!

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  7. What a summery looking cake. Love the sound of a pomegranate syrup poured on top.

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  8. Very fruity, and I love the way you've decorated it with the figs! Thanks for sending this to Alphabakes.

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  9. This is absolutely stunning!!! How delicious!

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  10. Looks delicious, and I love the mixture of fruit you've used.

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  11. Such a gorgeous looking cake can only be super delicious! Love the top of colors!

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  12. I came across your recipe on Calendar Cakes. It looks delicious, I love figs and the addition of pistachio and pomegranate sounds lovely.

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  13. The figs look lovely on top of that cake!

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    1. I'm going to use figs more often to decorate my cake as the effect is simple and stunning!

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  14. Looks absolutely delicious. :)

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  15. What a BEAUTIFUL looking cake Ros and SUCH pretty photos too! I love the combination of ingredients you have used and it's a perfect summer Tea Time Treat! Karen

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  16. Oh Ros, this is such a gorgeous sounding cake. I just love all of those flavours and it looks spectacular. I bet it would be good made with pistachios too,

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    1. Thanks Choclette - it was a really stunning cake and so simple to put together. I'll have to try adding some pistachio to the cake mix next time.

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  17. What a beautiful recipe!!!! thank you so much for linking it up;)

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  18. Thanks for entering July's Calendar Cakes Challenge... I've now posted the round up... a little delayed as I've been away on holiday. http://tinyurl.com/mftqwcx Thanks again :-)

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    1. Hope you had a good holiday! I'll be over to check out the delicious entries.

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  19. Yum! just checked you out on Laura Loves Cakes! Beautiful job so well presented!

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