A real decadent cake with the jammy goodness of the dried figs & walnuts, perfectly combined with the bold flavours of rosemary subtly folded into the creamy Italian Mascarpone cheese frosting, is indeed a sophisticated treat for those special occasions.
Recipe Card
| Ingredients | Quantity |
| For the Dried Fig Jam | |
| Dried Figs | 238 gm |
| Sugar | 200 gm |
| Water | 3 cups |
| For the Cake | |
| Unbleached all-purpose flour | 240 gm |
| Baking soda | 2 tsp |
| Ground cinnamon | 2 tsp |
| Salt | ½ tsp |
| Vegetable oil | 110 gm |
| Unsalted butter, at room temperature | 113 gm |
| Sugar | 200 gm |
| Eggs | 2 large |
| Vanilla extract | 1 tsp |
| Boiling water | 1 cup |
| Chopped walnuts | 1 ½ cups |
| For Mascarpone Rosemary Frosting | |
| Mascarpone cheese | 150 gm |
| Cream | 350 gm |
| Icing sugar | 40 gm |
| Rosemary | 2 sprigs |
Method of Preparation:
TO MAKE THE JAM
- Coarsely chop the figs and combine with the sugar and water in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to achieve a gentle simmer and cook the figs, covered, until tender, about 1 hour.
- Let cool slightly, then purée the mixture in a food processor until smooth. You should have about 2 cups.
TO MAKE THE CAKE
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at medium speed beat together the oil, butter, and sugar until creamy and combined.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
- Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture just until combined.
- Stir in the boiling water, 2 cups of the fig jam (but no more, or the cake will be too soft), and walnuts.
- Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Of 16cm 5rings.Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes.
For the Mascarpone Rosemary frosting
- Heat 1/4th part of the cream with rosemary.
- Combine mascarpone, icing sugar in a bowl, and pour the above mix on to it.
- Allow the mixture to rest overnight.
- Strain the mix, and whip to a stiff peak, and use.
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Chef Vrushali Jadhav
Developing a strong affinity towards cooking at a very young age made Vrushali do her Bachelors’ in Hotel Management from IHM Goa, in order to pursue her passion to have a career in the world of culinary. Her dedication and commitment to excel have made her a name in the Culinary Fraternity in the UAE.
Vrushali’s Professional career started with the Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts, spotting immense talent in her which got her the opportunity to be a part of the pre-opening team at the prestigious Madinat Jumeirah Hotel in 2004. She has taken challenges and opportunities as they came, moving from Jumeirah Group to Dusit Thani and then to The Palace Down Town, where she worked as the Head Pastry Chef for over 7 years making the hotel a popular F&B offering in Dubai.
After years of industry experience, she embarked on the teaching path and joined ICCA Dubai to share her knowledge with the aspiring young chefs. Later on, she also became a certified Gelato Trainer by Carpigiani Gelato University, along with being a Patisserie Instructor at ICCA. In her journey as a Pastry Chef, she has travelled to Switzerland, Malaysia and Italy for work and training purposes with world-class master chefs.
