9 Recipes to Cook and Bake Your Way Through the (Short) Fresh Fig Season
Photo by Quin Engle/Unsplash
Every year around this time, I wait for a text from some good friends who have an old, sprawling fig tree in their backyard: “Figs are ripening! Come pick anytime!” And we do.
Figs are utterly unlike their midsummery brethren. To begin with, they aren’t really fruit: they’re inverted flowers. They taste nothing like a strawberry’s brightness after winter’s dour chill or the unrestrained exuberance of a perfectly ripened peach. Rather, figs are liminal, their sweet, earthy flavor a harbinger of fall. They are endlessly adaptable: excellent in end-of-summer salads or on top of yogurt with honey and equally splendid in autumnally appropriate dishes with salty meats or rich cheeses.
The fig season is fleeting—a matter of weeks—so you’ll want to try these nine recipes right away. If you’re not lucky enough to have a fig tree of your own, or a friend with one as I do, check your local farmer’s market. You can also easily freeze fresh figs, but be sure to use them within six to eight months.
1. Tomato, Fresh Fig and Blue Cheese Salad From NYT Cooking
In these late, broiling hot days of summer, the last thing anyone wants to do is turn on the oven to cook anything. This low-effort salad from the New York Times means you can avoid doing that and still have something delicious to eat for supper. Bonus: This recipe gives you a way to use up those late-summer tomatoes from your kitchen garden. Slice the tomatoes into rounds or wedges and the figs into quarters; spread them on a plate and toss with vinaigrette. Turn on the stove barely long enough to lightly toast pine nuts, and scatter them over the tomatoes and figs along with some fresh thyme and crumbled blue cheese. Serve with freshly baked bread and salted butter.
2. Caramelized Fig Upside-Down Cake From Broma Bakery
I know, I know—I just said no one wants to turn on the oven in this heat. But this gorgeous cake presents a strong argument for making an exception. The initial instructions call for separately pouring melted butter and then scattering brown sugar into the bottom of a springform pan; commenters suggest a modified step of combining them together in a bowl and then adding them to the pan, which will keep the melted butter from leaking out. Sliced figs are placed on top of the butter-sugar mixture. Next, cream together butter and white sugar, then blend in eggs, sour cream, whole milk and vanilla. Separately, you’ll combine the dry ingredients—including orange zest—then add to the wet mixture until just incorporated. Spread the batter on top of the figs and then bake. After the cake cools, add a quenelle of sweetened whipping cream atop each slice.
3. Fig Honey Thyme Prosecco Smash From Half-Baked Harvest
Yes, you can use fresh figs in cocktails! This is a perfect recipe for late summer, as it also calls for a ripe diced plum (stone fruit!)—plus elderflower liqueur, lemon juice, honey and fresh thyme. Combine these ingredients in a cocktail shaker and gently mash down on the figs until they release their juice. Add ice, place the top on the shaker and shake. Strain into several glasses, top off with prosecco and garnish with sliced fresh figs.
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