{Fig Caramel Cake}

Oh my lord I just made the most amazing cake. Will you just look at that cake ! roasted figs, caramel, vanilla bean, cream, HEAVEN.

We went for a drive in the country this weekend, stopped at an orchard for a bag of apples for the boys who eat hundreds of them, hundreds I tell you. On the counter was a bowl of figs, warm, soft, fragrant and just begging me to take them home and make them into something special.

This cake is special, its a celebration cake, make this for people you love, or like me, have it on a Monday after you've taken the kids to the pool on the bus. Who really needs an occasion when it comes to cake, not me, clearly.

...cake
150g butter, softened
150g caster sugar
half a vanilla bean, seeds scraped
2 eggs
150g self raising flour
1/3 cup full cream milk

...caramel
¼ cup caster sugar
50g butter
1/3 cup pure cream
1/3 cup honey
the other half of the vanilla bean, seeds scraped, and pod
2 large ripe fresh figs

Preheat oven to 180. Grease and line a 20cm round spring form cake tin with with baking paper, then wrap the outside base with foil (so your caramel doesn't escape). I used a profiline pushpan which was very kindly sent to me to try, it worked perfectly, completely watertight or in this case caramel tight!

To make the cake batter beat the butter, sugar and vanilla seeds from half the pod together until pale, add eggs one at a time mixing until combined. Add flour alternately with milk.

For the caramel sauce, place all ingredients except figs into a medium saucepan cook over medium heat until sugar has melted. Bring to a gentle boil and cook until mixture turns golden brown. Remove the vanilla bean pod.

Pour caramel into your prepared tin. Cut figs in quarters and arrange prettily cut side down. Gently dollop over the cake batter, spreading until even. Bake for 40-45 minutes until cooked through.

Serve warm with lashings of softly whipped cream.