This honey Earl Grey fig cake layers tea infused sponge cake with honey cream cheese frosting, fresh figs, and toasted pistachios. It’s an elegant, fuss-free cake that highlights fig season!
I once thought figs were cookies. As a kid, if you told me that figs were fruits, I’d laugh in your face. To me, “fig” meant that soft, jammy cookie that came in a yellow box.
Fast forward to my early teens and I was finally introduced to this lovely fruit. My dad was eating some one Saturday morning. I noticed the beautiful interior of the fruit and asked him what it was. My dad, who doesn’t like to explain things unless it’s about math or chemistry, just handed me one and said to try it.
That was it. No explanation needed. I was hooked on this sweet, delicate fruit for life.
That continued love for figs turned into fig tart with pistachios, fig banana bread, fig jam, and fig pistachio Bostock. And now, this cake. This honey Earl Grey fig cake is the perfect ending to a cocktail party, picnic lunch, Sunday brunch, pretty much any random or special day.
I’m also a sucker for all things Earl Grey. If it’s on a menu, I’m ordering it. Pairing that citrusy, floral tea wit honey and fresh figs just feels so right!
Recipe Highlights
- Real Earl Grey flavor– the tea is steeped into hot milk until concentrated. Tea should be steeped, I don’t want to eat the tea leaves!
- Honey cream cheese frosting is tangy, lightly sweet and pairs well with the tea’s bergamot notes.
- Rustic or polished finish – you can chose to fully frost the cake for a more polished look or leave the sides exposed for an easier, more rustic presentation.
- Built on a trusted cake base recipe – this uses the reliable cake formula as my strawberry vanilla cake.
Notes & Substitutions
Infusing the Earl Grey flavor
There are two ways to get tea flavor into a cake batter: 1) grinding the tea leaves directly into the dry ingredients, or 2) steeping the tea in hot milk until it’s strongly concentrated.
I prefer steeping. Use whole milk, not a lower-fat milk (or go even richer with heavy cream). Tea flavor is carried by fat, so a leaner milk will give you a weaker cake.
Cream cheese
Use block-style American cream cheese, fully softened. Do not substitute mascarpone, Neufchâtel, or crème fraîche. These are all softer and higher-moisture, and will turn the frosting thin and runny instead of pipeable. (This is the single most common issue readers have run into with this frosting — more on that in the FAQ below.)
Cake pans
This recipe is built for two 6-inch round pans, at least 2 inches deep. You can also bake it as two thinner 8-inch layers, or two 9-inch layers for a lower, wider cake. Reduce the bake time by 5–10 minutes and expect a thinner frosting coverage.
Pan color matters more than people think! Light-colored pans bake more evenly and keep the bottom of the cake from over-browning; dark pans absorb and radiate more heat, which is great for roasting vegetables or meat, but can over-bake delicate cake layers.
Tips for Success
- Test your oven temperature. A number of readers have mentioned dry or dense results – in almost every case, it traces back to oven temperature running hot or cold. An inexpensive oven thermometer solves this instantly.
- Weigh your ingredients when you can, especially the flour. Cup measurements vary more than you’d think, and this is a delicate, low-fat sponge that’s sensitive to extra flour.
- Don’t skip the full 20-minute steep. Rushing this step is the fastest way to end up with a cake that tastes like plain vanilla instead of Earl Grey.
- Let the cake cool fully before frosting and stacking, or the layers will slide.
Storage
Store the frosted cake in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for up to 3–4 days. Because of the cream cheese frosting, this cake needs to stay chilled. Let slices sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving so the frosting softens, and add a fresh drizzle of honey just before serving.
The unfrosted cake layers can be wrapped tightly and frozen for up to a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge before frosting and assembling.
Honey Earl Grey Fig Cake
Ingredients
Earl Grey Cake:
- ½ cup whole milk, (113 g)
- 2 earl grey tea bags, (about 2 ½ teaspoons loose tea)
- 1 ½ cups cake flour, (180 g)
- ½ Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste, or vanilla extract
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, (85 g) softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar, (150 g)
Honey Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz brick style cream cheese, (226 g) room temperature
- 2 oz unsalted butter, (56 g) softened
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar, (230 g)
- 2 Tablespoons honey, (40 g)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Toppings:
- figs
- honey
- pistachios
Instructions
Earl Grey Cake:
- Microwave milk for 90 seconds to 2 minutes until very hot. Steep tea bags for 20 minutes. Squeeze out as much liquid from tea bags. Remove tea bags. Stir in egg whites and vanilla paste. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease and flour two 6-inch cake pans. Line with parchment paper and set aside.
- Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together softened butter and sugar. Add ⅓ of dry flour mixture. Mix on low speed. Add ½ of liquid mixture. Continue to mix on low speed and add another ⅓ of dry flour mixture. Add remaining liquid mixture. Mix on low and add remaining ⅓ of dry flour mixture. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing. Batter should be smooth.
- Divide batter between two prepared cake pans. Level batter using the back of a spoon or a mini offset spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating once halfway through baking. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before unmolding. Place cake on wire rack and allow to cool to room temperature
Honey Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Scrape down bowl as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar, honey, and salt. Mix until frosting is smooth and thoroughly combine.
Assembly:
- Level cooled cake as needed. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or cake plate. Spread a generous amount of honey cream cheese frosting into an even layer over cake.
- Place another cake layer on top. Top with frosting. Place sliced figs on top of cake. Sprinkle pistachios on top. Drizzle honey as desired.
- Keep cake stored in the fridge until ready to serve. Let cake sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to allow cake to soften. Drizzle additional honey, as desired, before serving.
Notes
- Be sure to use block American cream cheese. Do not use light cream cheese or whipped cream cheese.
- Do not use mascarpone, Neufchâtel, or creme fraiche in place of American cream cheese.
- Add up to 1 ½ cups additional confectioners’ sugar to thicken frosting to your desired consistency.
- Recipe uses two 6-inch round cake pans (at least 2-inch deep)
- Two 8-round cake pans may also be used. Reduce baking time by 5 to 8 minutes for larger pan.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!Recipe FAQs
No. Simply stir the egg whites into the steeped milk and vanilla until combined. No whipping or additional aeration needed.
Yes. The layers will bake up thinner, so reduce the baking time by about 5–10 minutes and keep an eye on them. You’ll have enough frosting for a naked-style finish rather than a fully coated cake.
This almost always comes down to the cream cheese. Block-style American cream cheese is essential; softer styles like mascarpone or Neufchâtel don’t hold structure the same way and will thin the frosting out. If it’s still too soft, add up to 1½ cups more confectioners’ sugar to firm it up.
I just made this for dessert tonight. I had been dying to try it ever since I found this recipe! It turned out beautiful, and had a lovely flavor! My only issue was that the cake came out a little dry, even baking it for a couple minutes less than the lower end of the suggested cook time. That could be my oven though. I would just check about 5 minutes earlier next time.
Do you whip the egg whites first?
No need. Just mix the egg whites with the other liquids.
Beautiful. How tall are the pans you used?
Thank you! I used two 6-inch round cake pans (2-inch tall)
Hi! Can I use 1/2 honey in place of 3/4 cup sugar in the cake?
Hi! I don’t recommend it. The creaming of the butter and sugar creates texture and helps with the leavening of the cake.
This looks amazing but can I make it with two 9 inch layers and the same amount of frosting?
Yes, you can bake it in two 9-inch cake pans. The layers will be much thinner and you will have to reduce the baking time by 5-10 minutes or so. Frosting will be just enough to create the “naked” look similar to the ones in the photos.
hi! can you make this cake sugar free? i love the idea but I cant have sugar ???❤
Sorry, I don’t have experience using sugar-free baking substitutes.
Hello! When I saw this recipe it was love at first sight, so I waited for the figs on my tree to be ready and this afternoon I tried to make the cake. It was a bit of a disaster.. The Earl Grey cake part was fine, I took it out of the oven, got it out of the pan. Wonderful! The frosting part… Not so much. I’m Italian, so I converted the measures in grams and I thought I did it right.. But it came out liquid.. I don’t know why, and ruined the whole thing. I mean, I completed the cake but it is obviously horrible.. Sooo thoughts to help me for a possible next time?
Hi Elisa! Thanks for trying out the recipe. Did you use American block cream cheese? Or did you use soft Italian cream cheese like mascarpone? They are very different. Mascarpone is much softer and would cause the frosting to turn into a liquid.
Hi. When younsay stir in egg whites, do you mean whipped or not?
I made this cake a year or two ago and it came out beautifully, but for the life if me I can’t remember if I beat the egg whites or not
Simply stir the egg whites with the tea and vanilla until smooth. No need to whip it.
Can I just ask if anyone has actually made this cake? I’ve read a lot of the comments below and everyone seems to be saying how much they love figs, and how beautiful the cake is (which i agree with!), but has anyone made it?
I made it this evening and it was a disaster! A stodgy sponge with no trace of earl grey flavour. I am in England, so maybe I got the proportions wrong (I always find the whole cup/tablespoon thing difficult) I do wonder why not just weigh ingredients??
Anyway. it was unusable. I’ve made the icing, so am now baking a sponge to use it on, and I have the figs and pistachios, so hope it will come good in the end, but I have thrown the original cakes away!
I just wanted to ask…was it just unbeaten egg whites as the recipe says? Is it plain flour not self raising (this is what google told me cake flour is).
I’d be grateful to understand where I went so wrong! Many thanks!
I’m having trouble too. So far this darn cake has been in my oven for over an hour with no signs of firming up.
I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve made this cake several times without fail. I also test each recipe at least three times before posting it on my site.
Perhaps your oven temperature is off? I keep a thermometer in my oven to ensure the temperature inside is accurate.
This looks amazing, we had earl grey as a flavor for our wedding cake, I can’t wait to make this for my wife for her birthday this year. Additionally, that cake stand is gorgeous, any chance of you sharing where it came from?
Hope your wife has a very happy birthday! That’s so sweet that you’re making her cake! The cake stand is from Aheirloom. They make great cake stands!