Fig Leaf Tahini Cake

This is an easy autumnal dessert that infuses the subtle sweetness, earthy greenness and tropical aromas of humble fig leaves into a moist and flavourful cake with tahini for extra nuttiness and richness. It is a perfect teatime treat served with a dollop of whipped cream and extra fresh figs. The fig leaf serves as a natural and aromatic alternative to traditional parchment paper and imparts a subtle, aromatic flavour to baked goods. You can serve the cake either with fig slices or fig leaf facing up. Cashew butter or sunflower seed butter would be ideal substitutes for tahini.

1 Fig leaf for 24cm springform pan
Sesame seeds
180 g White spelt flour (or plain flour)
120 g Xylitol (or sugar)
1½ tsp Baking powder
¼ tsp Baking soda
1 Large pinch of salt
150 g Full fat Greek yoghurt
70 g Fig leaf infused oil (or olive oil/sunflower oil)
120 g Tahini (well stired and measured)
2 Medium eggs at room temperature
3 Fresh figs, sliced horizontally

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a 24cm springform pan with edible fig leaf then fill the the empty spaces with sesame seeds. Set aside.
Whisk together the spelt flour, xylitol, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in Greek yoghurt, infused oil, tahini and eggs. Stir together until everything is smooth and well combined. Pour the cake batter into prepared baking pan.
Cut the fresh figs horizontally into 3-4 slices. Arrange the sliced figs on top of cake batter. Sprinkle the batter in-between with sesame seeds if desired.
Bake in the middle of hot oven until a tester inserted into the center of cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool for 15 minutes. Open the springform pan and serve it with fig slices upwards or invert the cake to another plate so that fig leaf is facing upwards.

6 comments:

Tom 29/10/25 12:03: ...on a fig kick, are we?
DEZMOND 29/10/25 13:22: Looks so lovely turned upside down! Wish I had figs like you.
Jeff the Chef 29/10/25 13:32: I've never seen a two-sided cake like this before, and I've certainly never seen a cake with a fig leaf. Nice!
ellie 29/10/25 13:35: Looks amazing! Wonderful treat!
Caitlin&Megan 29/10/25 13:36: Beautiful! So many ingredients I've never tried. Thanks for the recipe!
Lola Martínez 29/10/25 13:44: Que precioso te ha quedado y con todos esos ingredientes, estará muy rico. Es completamente original para mi.