Fig-Raspberry Upside Down Cake

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend my first-ever food bloggers conference, The Big Summer Potluck.

It was not what I expected. I had heard about other blogger conferences, which had sessions on search engine optimization, social media tools, and how to take better photos. This conference was not like that at all.

As I listened to the first presentation by Jessamyn Rodriguez of Hot Bread Kitchen, I thought, “What does this have to do with blogging?” Not that her presentation was boring; it was actually quite inspiring. It was about how she had an idea to start an organization to help minority women secure management-level positions in the culinary industry, or start their own businesses, and made that idea a reality.

Jessamyn Rodriquez of Hot Bread Kitchen

As the day went on, I realized, this is all about blogging. It’s about reawakening the passion. When I started this blog, I wasn’t worried about subscribers, pageviews, or rank. I wasn’t worried about photo quality (heck, for at least the first year, I didn’t even take photos!), engaging readers on my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or Google+ accounts, or hosting giveaways of the latest and greatest products.

I did it because I was passionate about making delicious food. I wanted a place to organize my favorite recipes, and share them with people.

I don’t post recipes that we don’t enjoy. I post recipes, even if I don’t get great pictures of them. If I host a giveaway, it’s because I use and enjoy those products, books, or ingredients, and think you’d like them, too.

Chris of The Peche interviews Jeni Britton-Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

I’d been worried lately that my full-time job was interfering with my ability to engage my readers on social media, or get Foodgawker-worthy photos, and hey, how did this other blogger get to work with great brands and why don’t I know how to do that?

Honestly, it’s tiring, and it makes blogging more like work. I started blogging because it’s fun. And the only way I’ll continue is if it stays fun. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop posting on social media, or work to make my photography better. I’m just not going to let it overwhelm me.

Joe Yonan, food editor of The Washington Post

I came away from the conference feeling inspired, and supported, which was something I needed after these past couple of months, even though most of the bloggers there have no idea about the loss we suffered back in June.

While I was there, I met other bloggers like Courtney of Cook Like a Champion, Annie of Annie’s Eats, Shanon of The Curvy Carrot, Audra from The Baker Chick, Kelly from Kelly Bakes, Stephanie from Girl Versus Dough, Kelli from The Corner Kitchen, Carla from Chocolate Moosey, Erin from Eat Bake Drink Cook, Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks, Joanne from Eats Well With Others, Isabelle from Crumb, Brandy from The Nutmeg Nanny, Samantha from Sweet Remedy, and many more. If you don’t follow their blogs already, you should.

Did I mention that I also met Abby Dodge, an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed cookbook author, food writer and culinary instructor? I was barely able to keep myself composed and introduce myself.

Abby Dodge demonstrating how to make
her rosemary-basil shortbread cookies

There were also presentations by Jessica Powers from WhyHunger.org; Robyn Hillman-Harrigan from Shore Soup Project; Coach Mark Smallwood from The Rodale Institute; a demo by Brian Samuels of A Thought for Food; and live music by Martha Redbone. We also met representatives of the conference sponsors, Gourmet Garden (I’ve been using their ginger in a bottle for over a year now), OXO (half of my kitchen gadgets are OXO-brand), Philips, KitchenAid (I won a toaster!), Sabra, Attune Foods, Musselman’s, Kerrygold (cheeeeeeeeeese), and The Middle Sister.

And all of this was put together by the bloggers at Three Many Cooks, SmithBites, and The Peche. Thanks to them for all their hard work!

So, what does Fig-Raspberry Upside Down Cake have to do with all this? Well, the conference is called The Big Summer Potluck — and each attendee is asked to bring a dish. I brought the cake to the Friday night welcome dinner. We could choose up to three different preferences for what dish we’d like to bring, and were ultimately assigned one dish. I was assigned my first preference, a “down-home” cake, pie, or cobbler.

I chose this upside down cake, because, honestly, I didn’t think I’d have another chance. No one else in my family likes figs. It was just a little bit sweet, and very tender. I got several compliments on it, which, coming from other foodies, were greatly appreciated.

I’ve included both weight and volume measurements. For ingredients like flour, going by weight gives you the most accurate measurement and ensures your final product is as close to the original as possible. Kitchen scales can be purchased at any kitchen goods or housewares store, and a good one costs less than $50. It’s a great investment. If you need to make this recipe and don’t have a scale, you’ll be more likely to get a measurement closest to accurate if you spoon the cake flour into the measuring cup and level it off (rather than dipping your measuring cup in the bag of flour).

I also strongly recommend that you sift the cake flour. It has a tendency to clump, and sifting ensures even distribution, so that your cake bakes evenly. If you go by volume, measure it into the cup first, then sift.