Let’s get the Fig outta here!
Fresh figs, baked figs, made into a jam, in a pudding, on a pizza, in my mouth I will cram.
Every day, every way, in a crumble, in a pie, go look in the shops, Play eye spy!
Choose the figs that are not too soft, have a little give, but definitely not squashed.
Weird looking on the outside, these inverted flowers have the glory on the inside – like me 🙂
Green skinned are firmer, sweeter and best for drying and desserts, their insides stay resistant longer, fantastic for dipping in caramel and serving with ice cream.
Black skinned figs are delicious smooshed onto ricotta toast & drizzled with honey. They love attending the cheese platter, blue, brie, mild feta & washed rind all love figs!
Diced and added to raspberries or pears, figs are magic covered with almond frangipane and baked for a delicious dessert.
100g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
A pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 eggs
140g ground almond meal
Add one or two of the following – 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste, 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger, zest of one lime/orange or lemon/ ½ teaspoon of ground cardamom/cinnamon or nutmeg. 2 tablespoons of honey, Amaretto, Frangelico or Brandy.
Cream the butter & sugar together till light and fluffy- either in a mixer or by hand with a whisk. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, fold in the sea salt, baking powder & almond meal and your chosen personality boosting ingredients.
Into a ceramic or glass baking dish, pour in your frangipane mixture, and top with diced fresh figs, pears &/or berries. Bake at 160 degrees for 20-25 minutes till golden brown and fruit is collapsed and jammy. Perfect with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
Figs as a savoury course love soft white cheese. If you’ve got a pizza addiction, try whipped feta, smeared onto a pizza base, include a couple of tablespoons of caramelised onions, shredded pancetta, add some halved figs, inside side up, drizzle with olive oil and bake. Balsamic syrup trickled over straight out of the oven with a handful of fresh rocket leaves is manna from heaven!
I love to grab some dried Iranian figs from OC Foods in Artarmon for a cheese platter accompaniment. Into a heavy based pot, I add 1 kilo of dried figs, 2 litres of tawny port, and 1 kilo of brown sugar. Plus a couple of cinnamon sticks, a couple of cloves and peel from one orange. Simmered till syrupy, these figs can be poured hot into sterilised jars, left to cool, these figs will keep in the fridge for all of winter. Delicious on the cheese board, also snuggled into an apple crumble for extra richness, or spooned along a slice of sticky date pudding. Figgen Great!