It’s getting chillier by the day and something tells me this winter is going to be a little intense. Thankfully, I have some canning recipes in the works that are helping me stock the pantry up. Yes, I might be surviving on a whole lot of jams and pickles this cold season. I thought my previous post on the
poached fig sauce would be the last, but I was so wrong! The last time I came back from my grocery store, a couple of figs magically popped up in my grocery bag. I could have just eaten the entire batch directly but then I knew I would miss them for the rest of the year. So what’s one to do but stretch their presence out a little longer, perhaps till the next fig fruiting season? Since canning is my new culinary addiction, I turned to making a sticky and sweet fig preserve with bold flavors that would happily remind me of autumn.
This preserve uses whole figs that have their stems removed but I keep their skins because I like them. If you are not a big fan of the fruit’s skin, then by all means peel them off with a paring knife. Use good quality dry spices for this recipe because they will make the preserve taste better. The cinnamon flavor is gentle yet warming but the dry ginger powder gives the figs a delicious and bold zing. Instead of using brown sugar in this recipe (which you most certainly can try), I find honey to be my preferred choice of sweetener for the fig preserve, somehow that marriage between honey and figs is truly blessed. Yeah, I also like to add a bit of booze to everything I cook, so here it is a cup of Riesling. It brings everything together in my opinion without taking away from any of the flavors of the figs. Serve this on top of some thick plain yogurt for breakfast or spread it over buttered bread. You can also serve this with some sharp cheeses at your parties for an appetizer. Remember with this preserve, a little of it goes a long way!
spiced fig preserves
ingredients
3 cups chopped figs with stems removed
2 cups of a good quality honey
1/4 cup crystallized ginger
juice of one fresh lemon
1 cup riesling wine (a good quality moscato would also be good here)
1. Put all the ingredients together in thick bottomed saucepan.
2. Heat on a medium to high flame and bring the contents of the saucepan to a boil. Stir constantly. This should take about 10 minutes. Don’t be surprised if the viscosity of the honey decreases and the hot liquid begins to thin, this is absolutely normal.
3. Mash the figs with a potato masher to release the fruit’s pulp.
4. Reduce the flame to the low setting on the stove’s dial. Cook the figs for total time of 1 hour. Stir the mixture once or twice every 5 or 8 minutes. The volume will reduce during the process.
5. Transfer the hot preserves to sterile four, 4 pint jelly jars and seal. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Cool for another 5 minutes in the water bath before removing to cool and store.
Here is the label that I designed for this set of jams, feel free to use them as needed. Click on the image to the right to download the label pdf.
Disclaimer: These labels are for personal use only. If you do use them or credit them, please post a link back to the related original recipe and not the file. © A Brown Table
Update: The recipe has been updated to reflect the addition of the lemon juice.
11 Responses
My mother and grandmother did a lot of bottling while I was growing up on the farm but, I must admit, I don't do any now and yet it can be so simple. You fig preserve looks inspiring.
My mother and grandmother did a lot of preserving of fruit while I was growing up on the farm but, I must admit, I don't do any now. Your fig preserve is inspiring.
figs one of my favourite fruit of the season
Thank you Suzanne. Canning is fun and very addictive!
I agree with you Marion, figs are definitely a seasonal treat.
Oh my, I love the photos!! Need to get my hands on fresh figs, pronto!
so good ….sad i can never cook with figs… i love this fruit and i always end up eating ….ya i eat a lot of figs….!! someday !! gorgeous clicks
Love this, will try next year, thanks for sharing!
This is an amazing recipe. I make fig jam every year from the fruit on my neighbors' tree, but this year I was looking for something a little different than plain fig jam. wow! Not only did I make a batch, I then made a second double batch! (figuring since there is no pectin added it would be fine – and it was.) Goes GREAT with sheep's milk cheese and a butter cracker. I will definitely make this annually!
I tried your recipe last night and it is AMAZING!! thank you for sharing.
Yay! Roni I am so happy you loved it.