• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • twigg studios

    A British baking blog, food photography

    • Home
    • BLOG
    • WORKSHOPS
    • SHOP
    • PORTFOLIO
    • Contact
    • hire me
    • ABOUT ME
    October 29, 2015

    black tea poached fig and plum cake with rosemary blackberry frosting

    Uncategorized

    black tea poached plum and fig cake-1-9

    I had some fruit left over, (plums figs and blackberries) and decided to make this cake. I poached the plums and figs in some earl grey and added it into the sponge. I whipped crème fraiche and double cream together to make the frosting and flavoured it with some rosemary syrup and some blackberries.

    I’m the sort of person the requires there to be cake in the house at all times, for afternoon tea, or just in case any one comes over. my partner never understands why I am making “another cake” but it has to be done. he never seems to mind when he’s eating it though. i think it is more because the kitchen looks like a tornado has passed through it every time I’m in the kitchen (I’m not a tidy baker and manage to get flour everywhere).

    I love to try and mix flavours to keep the cakes different and I think that rosemary goes well with plums and earl grey goes well with figs and plums so I decided to try mixing them all together.

    black tea poached plum and fig cake-1-2

    black tea poached plum and fig cake-1-4

    black tea poached plum and fig cake-1-22

    black tea poached plum and fig cake-1-23

    black tea poached plum and fig cake-1-11

    to poach the fruit

    • 4 plums
    • 3 large bursa figs
    • 2 earl grey tea bags
    • 120g 1/2 cup caster sugar
    place the sugar and tea bags in a pan, slice the plums and figs in half and place in the pan and cover with water. bring to the boil and turn the heat down and leave to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
    once the fruit soft drain the liquid (keeping 3 tbsp to flavoir cake) and slice the plums into small chunks and scoop the centre of the figs away from the flesh discard the flesh and keep the soft insides place in a dish to cool.
    for sponge
    • 220g caster sugar 1 cup
    • 220g butter 1 cup
    • 4 eggs
    • 220g self raising flour
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • pinch salt
    preheat the oven to 350f 180c
    grease and line two tins
    cream together the butter and sugar for 3 minutes until pale and creamy. then add the eggs one at a time, making sure you properly combine each egg before adding the next one. then add the vanilla extract and the left over 3 tbsp of poaching liquid.
    finally sift in the flour and salt and fold in. pour between the two tins and bake for about 45 minutes.
    for the rosemary syrup
    • 200ml water
    • 1 cup 220g caster sugar
    • 2 sprigs of rosemary
    in a pan add the sugar, water and rosemary and bring to the boil then reduce for 5 to 10 minutes until it has turned in to a thick syrup. pour into a container and let cool.
    frosting
    • 200ml double cream
    • 200ml crème fraiche
    • 5 tbsp. icing sugar
    • 80 ml rosemary syrup
    • 10 blackberries

    in a bowl whip the cream, crème fraiche and icing sugar once thick add the rosemary syrup and blackberries and mix until stiff

    spoon some frosting on to one of the cake layers then add the other on top and spoon on some more filling, use a pallet knife to spread the frosting around the cake

    decorate with rosemary, sliced figs, plums and blackberries

    You might also like

    • concrete letter tutorial

    • weaved fabric coasters tuorial

    • flower tutorial

    SIGN UP TO GET MY NEWSLETTER

    Reader Interactions

    OLDER
    NEWER

    23 Comments

    1. Michele says

      October 30, 2015 at 2:18 am

      oh wow, this one is sooooo unique!

      ok, till now i never gave it much though but man oh man are sliced figs ugly or what? they look like brains, haha – but i absolutely love the way they taste (and smell!)

      One of my all-time very favorite candle companies is tyler candles and they have one called mediterranean fig and it is to-die-for awesome

      ok, now, what did you think of the flavor of this cake? did you love it? so-so? hate it? and your partner?
      would love to try it sometime, would love to know what you thought of how it came out

      thx

    2. Loran | Old World Living says

      October 31, 2015 at 9:47 pm

      This cake! It looks so completely enchanting! And unlike michele, I find cut figs to be utterly lovely. They have such a beautiful gourmet look about them. beautiful creation!

    3. Lyndsay // Coco cake land says

      November 25, 2015 at 7:24 pm

      Gasp, it’s so beautiful! figs have such lovely texture and colour. so prettily styled, too! xo

      • twiggstiudios says

        November 25, 2015 at 8:29 pm

        Thankyou xxx

    4. Charlotte Wathan says

      March 10, 2016 at 1:44 am

      Just a quick question? Do you put the poached fruit into the cake mixture or in between the cake layers?

      • twiggstiudios says

        March 10, 2016 at 7:37 am

        thankyou yes I added some in the sponge and some between the layers its down to what you prefer xxx

    5. Riann says

      May 31, 2016 at 8:54 am

      Hi – this is such a beautiful recipe. I can’t always get figs all year round, do you think it would be ok if I used figs I had frozen for the poached fruit? I would defrost them first and they would still be whole or half figs?

      • twiggstiudios says

        May 31, 2016 at 11:08 am

        hi yes I’m sure that would be fine xx

        • Riann says

          May 31, 2016 at 9:07 pm

          wonderful – thank you!

    6. Victoria Pease says

      July 22, 2016 at 9:30 am

      How pretty! This is the sort of recipe that makes me excited for autumn 🙂

      http://VICTORIASPONGEPEASEPUDDING.COM

      • twiggstiudios says

        July 27, 2016 at 8:08 pm

        thankyou x

    7. Alexandra says

      September 17, 2017 at 7:50 pm

      Hi! What size baking tins did you use for this?

      • twiggstiudios says

        September 19, 2017 at 2:27 pm

        they where quite small I think about 10cm

        • Ève says

          December 23, 2019 at 12:07 am

          Hi! Im sorry but did you mean 10 inch? I am looking to make this cake for this christmas and I woulnd want to ruin in! Sincerely!

    8. Andreea Buri says

      December 22, 2017 at 4:17 pm

      Hey there!
      Amazing receipe; in the unfortunate event of fig drought in supermarkets, any recommendation for what to replace them with. This is more like a SOS request as the cake is already fitted into the Christmas dinner menu?

      Happy Holidays,
      Andreea

      • twiggstiudios says

        December 22, 2017 at 11:39 pm

        I think it would work fine with out the figs and just with plums xxx

        • Andreea Buri says

          December 24, 2017 at 11:00 am

          Thanks so much! In the making as we speak,

          Merry Christmas and a wonderful joyous New Year,
          Andreea

    9. Cicely says

      December 12, 2019 at 7:12 pm

      Where is the beautiful cake stand from?

      • twiggstiudios says

        December 14, 2019 at 4:38 pm

        thank you, it was from anthropologie a few years ago x

    10. Ève says

      December 23, 2019 at 12:07 am

      Hi! Im sorry but did you mean 10 inch? I am looking to make this cake for this christmas and I woulnd want to ruin it! Sincerely!

      • gd_support says

        December 23, 2019 at 12:38 am

        Hi, no those tins are a bit smaller 7 or 8 inches I will update the techie and add it xx

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi there, I'm Aimee

    A food and photography lover. Welcome to Twigg studios. If you would like to find out more about me then head to my bio.

    LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

    free visual storytelling guide

    Categories

    • baking (80)
    • cake (27)
    • dinner (14)
    • Drinks (2)
    • pasta (11)
    • photography (1)
    • recipe (186)
    • sweet (52)
    • tips (6)
    • Travel (6)
    • Uncategorized (827)
    Visit Twiggstudios's profile on Pinterest.

    Recent Posts

    • Hazelnut brown butter speculaas cookies
    • Grape and roasted hazelnut frangipane galette
    • Zesty vanilla Victoria sponge with rose macerated strawberries
    • Homemade Elderflower liqueur
    • Roast Strawberry Daiquiri & Pavlova
    • E-mail
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

    Visit Twiggstudios's profile on Pinterest.

    Recent Posts

    • Hazelnut brown butter speculaas cookies
    • Grape and roasted hazelnut frangipane galette
    • Zesty vanilla Victoria sponge with rose macerated strawberries
    • Homemade Elderflower liqueur
    • Roast Strawberry Daiquiri & Pavlova

    HELP

    • HOME
    • ABOUT ME
    • CONTACT ME
    Get in the know.
    Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.
    As a welcome you will receive my presentation on visual storytelling
    Thank you for subscribing!

    INFO

    • E-mail Me

    twigg studios © 2025 - DESIGNED BY HERPARK STUDIO