Vegan dried fig and tahini cake with orange icing

Spray a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with avocado spray, or brush it with olive oil.

Pour four cups of boiling hot water over the dried figs and leave them to soften while the rest is prepared. Skip this step with dates.

Roughly chop the walnuts.

Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon and ground cloves together in a large bowl.

In another large bowl combine the olive oil, tahini, orange juice and baking soda.

Stir the ground flax seeds with three tablespoons of water or fig soaking water and leave it to soften into a flax egg.

Mix the granulated sugar and the vanilla extract into the wet ingredients, then add the flax egg.

Lift the softened figs out of the water, cut off the hard stems and roughly chop them.

Add a cup of the fig water to the wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, holding back a little of the flour in the bowl to toss the walnuts in so they do not sink to the bottom.

As soon as the flour is incorporated switch to a spatula and fold in the floured walnuts and the chopped figs. Mix only until everything is incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in a preheated 350F oven on the middle rack about 35 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Let the cake cool completely.

For the icing, stir the confectioner's sugar with three to five tablespoons of orange juice, to a pourable consistency that is not see-through.

Cut the cooled cake into portions and either drizzle the icing over the top or serve it on the side. It can also be left off and the cake dusted with powdered sugar, with shredded coconut if you like.