5 Ways to Use Figs

Every parent shows their child they love them differently. My father shows he loves my sisters and I by bringing us boxes of fruits and vegetables. This time I got blessed with two boxes of figs. I was so excited. It also meant that we had a days worth of work cut out for us. You see figs once picked don’t last long. You have to eat the figs within a few days or do something with all that fig. We did both.

Figs are one of my favorite fruits.

I don’t know about you but we eat the entire fig fruit, skin and all.

The teardrop shape fig is part of the mulberry family.

 

Fig Jam

When you have too much of something good you make jam out of it. You really can’t go wrong with making jam.

What you need:

• 1 pound of figs
• 3/4 brown sugar
• 1 lemon for lemon juice

To be honest with you when I make jam I just cut up the fruit and add sugar to taste. I prefer less sugar because fruit naturally is sweet. I also keep the skins of the fig and I like to have pieces of fruit in my jam. So if you want it smooth then puree your figs in a food processor. Then put your cut up or pureed figs into a heavy bottom pot. Stir the sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high. Then reduce heat. Add some lemon juice. Boil until it becomes jam-like. I like to stir my jam constancy. If your not sure how to check if it is ready, place a small amount of jam on a cold plate. If its is too runny then cook it some more.

I boil our lids and jars in a separate water bath. Then when the jam is ready I put the jam in jars and let cool and put one in the fridge or I place in a big pot the jars of jam in water and on medium heat can them for thirty minutes. If your canning you want to make sure the the jar rims are dry so that you get a good seal.

Fig Cheesecake

What you need:

For the crust:

• 1 1/2 cups of graham crackers (crush them so that they become crumbs)
• 3 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 7 tablespoons melted butter

Cheesecake:

• 32 oz of soft cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cups of sour cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 room temp. eggs

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter and use a fork to combine the ingredients well. This is your crust.

Pour the crumbs into a pan and press firmly, getting the bottom and sides of the pan covered. Set aside.

In a mixer add soft cream cheese and stir until smooth. You don’t want to over do it.

Add sugar and stir again.

Then add sour cream, vanilla extract, and salt and stir until combined.

On low speed slowly add beaten eggs. Use spatula if you need to in order to make sure that it is well combined. Pour cheesecake batter on top of pan with crust that you have set aside. It is wise to place the pan on a cookie sheet just incase you get a leak. Bake in the oven on 325 F for 75 minutes. You don’t to overbake because it won’t be creamy.

Remove from the oven and let cool for two hours before you put figs on top of the cheesecake. Place in fridge and enjoy. Cheesecake is always a big hit in our family.

Chocolate Covered Figs

What you’ll need:

• baking chocolate (white and chocolate)
• figs
• salt

Place parchment paper on a baking pan. Cut the figs in half and place the figs on the baking pan and in the freezer. Fill a saucepan 1/4 full with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and place a heat proof bowl on top. Cut pieces of chocolate and place in the bowl. You want to stir constantly until all the chocolate has melted and is smooth. Take out the figs from freezer (we placed the figs in the freezer the day before) and dip the figs into the chocolate. The white chocolate is sweeter than the dark chocolate. You can add salt or nuts to the figs and chocolate when it is still warm. Place back in the freezer until your ready to enjoy.

Dehydrated Figs

What you need:

• figs
• dehydrator or oven

We have a dehydrator with several levels. Since the tray on the bottom is closest to the heat source I rotate the racks every hour. This is one of our favorite ways to preserve figs. I like to slice the figs in small slices. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can use your oven. Set your oven on 135 degrees F for 8 to 24 hours. You’ll want to turn the figs every hour for best results. Place in a dry glass jar and seal well.

Spiced Figs

What you need:

• 6 cups of water
• 2 cups of brown sugar
• 6 whole cloves
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 24 firm fresh figs

Bring to a boil, water, sugar, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon sticks. Once the sugar has dissolved place in the figs and reduce heat to a medium-low and  let it simmer. Figs are ready when they have darkened and in about one hour. Remove pot from the heat and let the figs cool. Place the figs in a glass jar and ladle syrup over figs to cover the figs. Refrigerate for 24 hours before using. Your kitchen will smell like Christmas. You can serve the spiced figs over cheese or ice-cream.

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