Macarra Fowler

A deeply moist, tender olive oil cake with lots of fresh lemon, vanilla, and Greek yogurt. It’s delicious on its own, but sturdy enough to layer with fig jam once chilled. INGREDIENTS 1 cup olive oil — choose a mild, neutral-tasting olive oil rather than something very peppery or grassy 3 large eggs 1½ cups granulated sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or the seeds scraped from 2 vanilla bean pods ½ cup fresh lemon juice Zest of 3 lemons 1 teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon...

I have to be honest: before this month, I had never eaten a fresh fig. I’ve always loved fig jam, though. Fig jam on a charcuterie board? Absolutely. Fig jam and brie? Heck yeah, sign me up. Somehow I’ve just never had figs on the brain at the exact moment figs were actually in season. And wow, I’ve already said “fig” an unreasonable number of times in one paragraph, so let’s move on. A few months ago, I tried to create a fig perfume and I hated it. If this were Macarra 20 years ago, I...