A client has requested a vanilla sponge cake with fig filling for their wedding. Her wedding is in February which I don't believe figs are in season. Does anyone have any recipes or ideas for me using figs or fig paste that would be a yummy cake filling?

I live on a property with an orchard that has a number of fig trees.  The trees fruit in mid May thru Nov.  you can freeze them; they will hold for about three months in the freezer.  

The vanilla cake at least gives you several approaches to the filling.  Given the late winter date, you could make it like the Italian cucidati (fig cookie) filling.  It's a mix of raisins or currants, almonds, orange rind, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves.

a lighter fig filling would just be a compote--really just fruit, sugar, water, and spices.  You could add orange and/or some liquor to brighten the flavor. 

having grown up with figs, I really don't get the fig thing or how it ended up being the current "it" fruit.  I'd rather eat a juicy fresh peach any day!

I was looking at recipes for the lighter filling, but not sure I want to keep figs in from freezer now until then and hope they are ok by February.  Yea I am not a fan of it as a filling, but I am not the bride hehe

Why don't you cook a fig jam? Maybe with some rum or other liquor. .. That will last (depending on the recipe) for months and you can therefore make it ahead of the wedding using fresh figs.