Our Fig and Caramel Pound Cake was served in our Kyoto cafe at the beginning of the year 2023. Even with the fig jam and caramel sauce inside, the pound cake is not too sweet. It is perfectly rich and has a slightly bitter sweetness from the caramel that goes extremely well when paired with coffee. 

Ingredients:

Cake: 

• 59 grams Butter
• 44 grams Granulated sugar
• 22 grams Almond powder 
• 81 grams Eggs
• 73 grams Flour
• 2.2 grams Baking powder 
  
  
• 1.6 grams Rum
• 14 grams Sliced almond
• 67 grams Dried figs
• 10 grams Hazelnut
• 37 grams Fig jam

Caramel: 

• 12 grams Water
• 59 grams Granulated sugar
• 0.4 grams Salt
• 36 grams Fresh cream (room temperature)

Preparation:

1. Line the mold with baking paper 
2. Preheat the oven to 170℃ for 38 minutes.
3. Roast sliced almonds at 160℃ for 10 minutes. 
4. Slice the hazelnut into small pieces. 
5. Combine the flour and baking powder, then sift. 
6. Rehydrate dried figs with hot water, then proceed to cut them into quarters and dust them with flour. 

 Make caramel syrup: 

1. Combine water, granulated sugar, and salt in a saucepan over high heat. 
2. Turn off the heat when the caramel turns a deep brown color.
3. Stir in the room-temperature cream a little at a time. 
4. Mix the cream into the caramel completely. 
5. Reheat the caramel that has hardened during the mixing process over medium heat.
6. Once the caramel has melted once more, turn off the heat and let it cool. 

Make fig jam: 

Ingredients:

• Figs: use the amount to your liking.
• Granulated sugar: amount is 30% of the weight of figs used.
• Lemon juice: amount is 10% of the weight of the figs used.

Step by step:

1. Remove the skin from the figs and cut them into quarters.
2. Mix the fig and granulated sugar inside a saucepan for an hour to release its water content. 
3. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes and remove the scum as it cooks. 
4. Add the lemon juice, bring to a boil, and set it aside to let it cool. 

How to make:

1. Combine the softened butter and granulated sugar, and mix thoroughly.
2. Add the caramel to the batter and mix. 
3. Add the almond powder, to the batter and mixed in. 
4. Gradually add the eggs so they do not separate. 
5. If it looks like the mixture is going to separate, add some of the flour and sifted baking powder into the batter. 
6. When all the eggs are incorporated, add all of the flour mixtures at once. 
7. Proceed to add fig jam, rum, and dried figs, and lightly mix the batter. 
8. Pour the batter into the mold and sprinkle some hazelnut on top.
9. Bake them at 170°C for 38 minutes.
10. 10 minutes into the baking time, cut a slit in the center of the half-baked pound cake. 
11. After the pound cake is fully baked, lightly tap the mold, remove the cake from the mold, and allow it to cool.