Buttermilk-Glazed Mini Fig Cakes

These turned out really well and I received several compliments and requests for the recipe. I overfilled the muffin tins so my cakes ended up with rounded tops which when turned upside down (to look more like little cakes) meant they wouldn't sit flat. So I had to right them and they look like muffins. So that's a good lesson. I would have preferred more of a cake look. Nonetheless they are delicious!

Cakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup fig preserves (I used fig jam)

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Stir together flour and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Gradually add oil, beating at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended. Add buttermilk and vanilla, beating until blended. Fold in preserves and pecans.

2. Spoon batter into 2 (12-cup) lightly greased (with cooking spray) muffin pans, filling 20 muffin cups about 3/4 full.

3. Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire racks. Cool completely about 45 minutes.

4. Drizzle cakes with Buttermilk glaze. Cool 10 minutes. Pipe vanilla Hard Sauce onto warm cakes, and serve.

Buttermilk Glaze

Bring 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup buttermilk, 4 Tbsp butter, 2 tsp cornstarch, and 1/4 tsp baking soda to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Immediately remove mixture from heat, and cool 10 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 tsp vanilla. (Makes about 3/4 cup)

Vanilla Hard Sauce

Split 1 vanilla bean lengthwise, and scrape seeds into a large bowl. Stir in 2 cups 

powdered sugar. Beat 1 cup softened butter into sugar mixture at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. (Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

From one of my favourite baking books- Southern Living's The Southern Cake Book

Buttermilk Pancakes

If you're not making your pancakes this way-- you're making them wrong! The added step of whipping your egg whites makes all the difference in the fluffiness of the pancake. It really does!

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp Sugar (or a little more)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/3 cups buttermilk
3 large eggs separated
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Canola oil
Maple syrup

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 1/3 cups buttermilk, the egg yolks, and the melted butter. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined. The batter should be very lumpy.

2. In a small bowl, using a handheld mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir about 1/3 of the whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest of the whites. The batter will smooth out, but there will be some lumps.

3. Place a griddle on high heat until hot. Test it by flicking a little water and it should skitter across the surface. Lightly oil the griddle.

4. For each pancake, pour about 1/3 cup batter onto the griddle and spread it using the back of the measuring cup.Cook until bubbles form on the surface, about 1 1/2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook another minute until the other sides are golden brown, about another minute or so.

5. Serve piping hot with butter and maple syrup. Or if you have it- Dutch "Stroop", which is so delicious-- to me it's like a combination of molasses and corn syrup and is "lekker", as the Dutch say!

Variations: We love adding fresh (or frozen) blueberries to the pancakes as they cook. Just drop lots onto the top of the first side before you flip it. Bananas, raspberries, or chocolate chips are also great!