fig, yoghurt & almond cake

my saturday routine for many a year has involved getting up at an acceptable hour of the day, brewing some lovely fresh coffee, gathering up the weekend Guardian papers and getting back into bed to go through them. Now, my 'reading' the papers consists of a cursory glance at the main newsy part, then onto the crossword, then to the fashion pages, the guide (for Charlie Brooker) and then at last to the recipes! 

I have many clippings gathered over the years that I return to again and again; and after making this weeks offering, I think this little puppy will be joining that list. This cake is absolutely delicious, very moist and with delicate flavours.
  Ingredients  
200g unsalted butter  
200g caster sugar
3 large eggs  
180g ground almonds
100g plain flour  
1/2 tsp salt
scraped seeds of 1/2 vanilla pods  
1 tsp ground star anise  
100g greek yoghurt  
12 fresh figs......this was WAY to many, I was using the same size cake tin and could only fit in 6/7 figs worth...  

Method  
1. Heat the oven to 200C/400F
2. Line the bottom and sides of a 24cm springform cake tin  
3. Beat the butter in an electric mixer until soft, then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy  
4. Beat the eggs together lightly, then with the mixer on a medium speed, slowly add the eggs a dribble at time. Allow each addition to be well incorporated before adding the next
5. Sift the plain flour into a medium bowl, and mix in the almonds, salt, vanilla and star anise  
6. Fold the dry ingredients into the batter, mix until smooth then add the yoghurt
7. Pour the batter into the lined tin and smooth the top as much as possible with a spatula or palette knife  
8. Quarter the fresh figs vertically, and arrange on top of the cake in circles just slightly immersed in the batter  
9. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 170C/340F and continue baking until the cake sets - about 40 minutes longer (test by inserting a clean skewer into the cake, it's done if it comes out clean) ....I served the cake with creme fraiche, but you could just use more greek yoghurt....