Cornmeal Cake w/ Fig & Cardamom

To Make the Cornmeal Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180c and line a 21cm round cake tin with baking parchment.
2. Measure the psyllium husks or flax seeds into a spice grinder, high-speed blender, or mortar and pestle. Grind/blend until the husks/seeds are roughly ground. Transfer the ground seeds to a small bowl and add the water. Whisk well and leave to hydrate.
3. Slice each fig into 3 or 4 discs (depending on the size of the fig). Set aside.
4. In the cup of a high-speed blender, place the soy milk, lemon juice, vanilla, vegetable oil, caster sugar, and thickened psyllium husks/flax seeds. Blend on high speed until the mixture is completely smooth.
5. In a separate medium bowl, place the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
6. Add the blended wet ingredients to the dry and mix together. Don’t overmix the batter.
7. Pour the batter into the cake tin and smooth out with a spatula. Lay the sliced figs on top of the batter and push down gently. Place in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Check the cake is done by inserting a bamboo skewer into the centre of the cake. It should come out dry.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool on a wire cooling rack for ten minutes. Do not remove the sides and base of the tin just yet.

To Make the Cardamom Syrup

1. Remove the seeds from 8 cardamom pods and crush gently with a mortar and pestle. Don’t crush to a powder, just roughly crack the seeds.
2. Place the ground cardamom, sugar, water, and lemon zest into a small saucepan and place over medium/low heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring a little at first until the sugar is dissolved, then stop stirring.
3. Allow simmering until the volume has reduced by about half then remove from the heat. While the syrup is still hot, use a pastry brush to carefully coat the top of the sponge with a layer of syrup. The syrup should soak into the sponge, particularly around the edges of the figs.
4. Allow the syrup to cool for ten minutes then repeat the process. The cooler syrup should be slightly thicker and won’t soak in as much
5. Slice the cake into 8 slices and serve with a little extra syrup brushed on top.