Published: Jul 19, 2018 Updated: Apr 3, 2022 by Hilda Sterner | This post may contain affiliate links 135 Comments

Favorite Fig Cake | Fig Bread Recipe

Name: Fig Bread/Fig Cake Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Ingredients: 2 cups flour ((plus extra for dusting)); 1⅓ cups sugar; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp ground cloves; ½ tsp nutmeg; ½ tsp cardamom; ½ tsp cinnamon; ¼ tsp salt; ½ cup vegetable oil; ½ cup milk; 3 medium eggs ((beaten)); 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 cup fresh figs ((chopped)); ½ cup chopped walnuts ((or pecans)); 1 tbsp softened butter ((for greasing the pan/pans))

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This moist, sweet, and flavorful homemade fig bread is a fall favorite! Also known as fig cake, it's loaded with chunks of fresh figs, chopped walnuts, and is spiced with cardamom and cinnamon. If you have leftover figs, be sure to try my candied figs recipe!

This is one of my most sought-after recipes. My moist and irresistible fig bread recipe. Some of my friends refer to it as fig bread, while others call it fig cake. Whatever you call it, you'll agree that it's absolutely delicious!

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🧐 Why This Recipe Works
🍞How to make Fig Bread
🤷🏻‍♀️Recipe FAQs
👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips
🍽 Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

🧐 Why This Recipe Works

Fig bread/cake is one of the easiest recipes you'll ever make. No need to use a mixer, or use a bunch of bowls that leave you with a huge mess to clean up afterward.

Baking fig bread is as easy as mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. After that, pop it in the oven and enjoy the heavenly aroma!

The spices used in this bread really compliment each other and give it a unique taste that you'll be craving all year long.

🍞How to make Fig Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Step 1: Mix all the dry ingredients until combined.

Step 2: Place the walnuts in a ziplock bag and pound with a mallet until crushed.

crushing walnuts in a ziplock bag with a mallet

Step 3: Fold the walnuts in with the dry ingredients.

Step 4: In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients, including the chopped figs.

stirring milk, oil, and figs with a blue spatula

Step 5: Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until incorporated. Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan, or two loaf pans.

fig bread batter being stirred in a bowl

Tip: If using frozen figs, make sure they are defrosted and drained first.

Step 6: Baking time for the cake should be approximately one hour. Baking time will be less for the loaf pans, approximately 45 minutes. Since oven temperatures vary, test with a toothpick to make sure it's cooked all the way through.

Cool the cake for approximately 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Cool on wire racks completely before cutting, and serving.

🤷🏻‍♀️Recipe FAQs

Can you substitute unsalted butter for the oil in this fig bread recipe?

This recipe is very flexible and can be prepared with either oil or unsalted butter. Simply substitute an equal amount of melted and cooled butter for the amount of oil called for in this recipe.

What causes Fig Bread loaves to fall in the middle?

There are many reasons why baked goods fall in the middle. Some say it's because the oven door was open during the baking process, while others say the bread needs more flour.

I think one of the main reasons fig bread caves in the middle is due to the high liquid content. This is due to the amount of juice in the figs.

This is especially the case if you use defrosted frozen figs, which is why I recommend straining the figs before using them. Try adding an additional ¼ cup of flour to increase the flour to liquid ratio.

Can you substitute dried figs for fresh figs to make fig bread or fig cake?

Although I highly recommend using fresh figs, I realize not everyone has access to fresh figs, and that they are only in season for a short time of the year.

To use dried figs in this recipe, start by rehydrating the dried figs. Cover the figs with boiling water for approximately 10 minutes. Next, drain and pat the figs dry before chopping and measuring out one cup to use in the recipe.

Can you use fig preserves to make fig bread/cake?

If you want to use fig preserves to make fig cake, some adjustments need to be made to reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe and up the flour content. I recommend the following adjustments:

• Reduce the amount of sugar from 1-⅓ cups to 1 cup.
• Increase the amount of flour by ¼ of a cup.
• Decrease the amount of figs from 1 cup of fresh figs to ¾ cups of preserves.

👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips

The figs should be chopped coarsely instead of ground. We want big chunks of figs in the bread.
During fig season, I chop the figs and add them to small ziplock bags in one cup portions. I then keep them in the freezer to use throughout the year when I'm craving fig bread.
You can also make this bread by replacing one of the eggs with half of a ripe banana. It makes an even moister cake/bread.

Figs, Gardening, and Good Neighbors

I'd like to dedicate this recipe to my next-door neighbor, the late Chuck Frazier. Chuck recently passed away at the age of 83.

It was while I was visiting my family in Chicago, so I didn't get to say goodbye. He and I shared the love of figs, gardening, and spicy food. Figs will forever remind me of Chuck!

a vintage black and white photo of a young, handsome sailor. — Chuck, as a young sailor

Sometimes you thank God for placing certain people in your life, Chuck Frasier was one of those people in my life. Chuck was a Korean War/Vietnam War Veteran.

Although we had serving in the Navy in common, it was the fig tree in his front yard that brought us together.

I once admired the fig tree in his front yard and mentioned that I loved figs. After that, Chuck would always invite me to pick figs from his tree when they ripened in late Summer.

Chuck shared his figs with me, and I repaid him with this fig cake, strawberry fig jam, fig newtons, and fig preserves.

Things You Find Out at a Funeral

Why is it that you can live next door to someone for years and still not know certain things about them? That is until you attend their funeral.

Like the fact that Chuck was born in a train box cart. Or that he and his lovely wife, Shirley, fostered 200 children over the years!

Chuck loved Jesus, and never met a stranger. His favorite pastime was tending to his garden. When I would hear him in the garden (over our shared fence), I'd stand on a chair so that we could chat.

As I sit outside writing this post, I realize that the sound I hear coming from his yard is not Chuck; that makes me really sad.

Yet, I know I'll see him again one day, where I'm sure he'll take me around and show me his beautiful, heavenly garden!

scotty, chuck, and Shirley — My son, Scott, with Chuck and Shirley, at Scott’s high school graduation/boot camp going away party (July of 2017)

Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.

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