My backyard fig tree is not always the most reliable producer, but when I have figs I make this dessert. It pairs an old-fashioned pound cake (recipe courtesy of my great-aunt Emma) with a chunky sauce made with my homegrown Brown Turkey figs. I love this dessert’s down-home elegance—a figgy topping poured over individual pound cakes baked in cupcake pans. You can use any fresh fig that’s available—light green, brown, or purple. In Texas you’ll most likely find Brown Turkeys, which I’ve been told were planted throughout the state by early homesteaders. If fresh figs are not available, use Bosc pears or tart apples. If you want a large, belt-busting dessert, use Texas-size cupcake pans. Standard-size cupcake pans will give you double the servings.

　　

Ingredients

makes 12 Texas or 24 standard servings

　　

Pound Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

　　2 cups sugar

　　6 large eggs

　　1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　2 cups all-purpose flour

　　1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

　　

Topping

2 cups ruby or tawny port (inexpensive is fine)

　　2 cups sugar

　　1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

　　Zest strips from 2 fresh lemons

　　1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme leaves

　　1 cup dried cranberries or sour cherries

　　2 pints fresh figs, stemmed

　　

Step 1

TO MAKE THE POUND CAKE: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

　　

Step 2

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and the 2 cups sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating on medium-high speed after each addition. Beat in the 1 teaspoon lemon juice and vanilla. Add the flour and salt and beat on low speed until thoroughly incorporated. Evenly fill 12 Texas-size muffin tins or 24 standard-size muffin tins. Bake until the muffin tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in pans 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

　　

Step 3

TO MAKE THE FIGGY TOPPING: Meanwhile, combine the port, the 2 cups sugar, the 1/4 cup lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon thyme, and dried cranberries in a large saucepan set over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Decrease the heat to medium-low so that the mixture simmers. Add the figs and cook until the syrup thickens slightly (just a little thicker than maple syrup), 7 to 10 minutes.

　　

Step 4

TO SERVE: Arrange the pound cakes on individual plates and spoon on about 3 tablespoons of warm or room temperature port sauce and 2 figs for each Texas-size cake and about half that for the standard-size version.

　　

variation

Step 5

If fresh figs are unavailable, substitute 6 cored tart, firm apples or Bosc pears, quartered and cut into large hunks.

　　

do it early

Step 6

Both the cakes and the sauce can be made in advance. The sauce will keep for at least 3 days in the refrigerator. The cakes can be baked, cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and held at room temperature for up to 1 day, or frozen for up to 3 weeks.

　　

tip

Step 7

When I want lemon zest I normally turn to my Microplane, a rasp-type grater invented by an imaginative woodworker. It’s easy to use and produces a flurry of flavorful, fluffy bits of zest. For making long, curly zest ribbons, perfect for this recipe, I rely on my old-style zester (supplanted by the Microplane in many kitchens). This tool has three round holes that form perfect little zest strips when pulled across the skin of a lemon, lime, or orange.

　　Pastry Queen Parties by Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Copyright © 2009 Rebecca Rather and Alison Oresman. Published by Ten Speed Press. All Rights Reserved.A pastry chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author, native Texan Rebecca Rather has been proprietor of the Rather Sweet Bakery and Café since 1999. Open for breakfast and lunch daily, Rather Sweet has a fiercely loyal cadre of regulars who populate the café’s sunlit tables each day. In 2007, Rebecca opened her eponymous restaurant, serving dinner nightly, just a few blocks from the café.  Rebecca is the author of THE PASTRY QUEEN, and has been featured in Texas Monthly, Gourmet, Ladies Home Journal, Food & Wine, Southern Living, Chocolatier, Saveur, and O, The Oprah Magazine. When she isn’t in the bakery or on horseback, Rebecca enjoys the sweet life in Fredericksburg, where she tends to her beloved backyard garden and menagerie, and eagerly awaits visits from her college-age daughter, Frances.Alison Oresman has worked as a journalist for more than twenty years. She has written and edited for newspapers in Wyoming, Florida, and Washington State. As an entertainment editor for the Miami Herald, she oversaw the paper’s restaurant coverage and wrote a weekly column as a restaurant critic. After settling in Washington State, she also covered restaurants in the greater Seattle area as a critic with a weekly column. A dedicated home baker, Alison is often in the kitchen when she isn't writing. Alison lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her husband, Warren, and their children, Danny and Callie.