Fall is for Figs, Glorious Figs

Fresh figs are one of the world’s most delicious and sensual fruit. I just love their rich purple-black color and succulent flavor. They make their appearance at farmers markets and in some supermarkets only in the early weeks of fall. Besides the joy of eating them straight from the tree, there are so many wonderful ways to cook with figs, it will make your head spin. We used them three ways in the past week. Each recipe is super easy and quick too.

Figs on Pizza

I bought figs at the farmers market and then bought a premade thin pizza crust, goat cheese crumbles, walnuts, and parsley from Whole Foods. (Our parsley growing in back is completely picked over.)

We brought all of the ingredients to our friends’ house to prepare as an appetizer. We sliced the figs in half.

Arranged the figs, goat cheese, walnuts, and parsley on the pizza crust, drizzled olive oil generously over the top, and baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The pizza vanished in seconds flat.

Golden Vanilla Fig Cake

My kids weren’t sure their friends would eat a cake with figs, but I made it for the soccer kick-off party anyway. And they loved it, especially with its generous dopple of homemade whipped cream. (You can follow the entire recipe here.)

We first made a sauce of sugar, water, lemon juice, black peppercorns, a sprig of rosemary, and vanilla extract.

While the sauce cooled, we preheated the oven to 350 degrees and mixed together the cake batter.

I sliced the figs.

And layered them on top of the cake batter.

As the cake baked, the figs sank into the batter. When the cake came out of the oven and was still warm, I poured the sauce over the top. I let the cake sit for a few hours before the party to let the sauce soak in really well. The cake was gooey and sweet with the wonderful reward of a fig in every mouthful.

Honey Butter Fig Sauce

When our next door neighbors invited us for dinner, I made this sauce as a last-minute dessert. I poured about 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan.

Placed the sliced figs into the sauce to brown. Oh the smell.

I drizzled the sauce over the tops of the figs as they warmed.

Prepared bowls of vanilla ice cream.

And poured the figs and sauce over the ice cream. Some of the adults also added a splash of brandy. Absolutely divine.

For many more ideas for sweet and savory fig recipes, this Yummly cooking site is a great resource.