Fig leaf semifreddo with jammy fig compote
How to pick a fig for perfect happiness and recipes for the fig glut
True happiness found in a fig
I have a fig glut. Which, given the stubbornness of my fig tree, is something of a miracle. And it means I have, this week, discovered the true meaning of happiness.
To pad outside, before breakfast, in bare feet and pyjamas to the fig tree, squeeze a few dark figs to test for ripeness, then pluck the most yielding from the tree and eat it, right there in the flowerbed where the fig lives, taught skin puncturing and giving way to fragrant, syrupy flesh within; to do this turns out to be the most pure, most satisfying joy I know.
I picked 15 the other day. And another dozen today. (I get dressed for that many.) So fig features heavily on the menu. Here’s what I’ve been cooking and below, for paid subscribers, a new recipe using fig leaves and fruit in a simple, show-stopping dessert.
And further afield, I highly recommend
’s practical advice on drying fig leaves and the outrageously lovely fig leaf and olive oil ice-cream that follows. I also notice has just posted a savoury fig, hazelnut and goats cheese cake which is going straight to the top of my To Cook list. And for any figs that refuse to ripen, has a terrific option for green figs in honey which gives them all the fragrance and intensity of any ripe counterpart.
A bit of housekeeping…
…before we get to the figs. I’m on holiday for much of September, so whilst I’m away I’ve scheduled short weekly recipe posts around a theme, like a mini-series: mostly veggie meals for digging into mid-week.
Every Wednesday, you’ll receive a really easy recipe that is mostly veggie (meat as seasoning, if at all) and highly flexible so will work for whatever you have in your veg patch or salad draw. Plus, three suggestions for swaps and variations to the ‘mother’ recipe.
Which means you can just throw it all together, parade it to the table and dig in. In fact, since every mini-series needs a name, maybe I’ll call it Dig In.
As usual, recipes (complete with fancy, printable recipe cards and swaps charts!) are for paid subscribers, so make sure you’ve subscribed to get the recipes:
Normal service will resume in October. Right, figs…
Fig leaf semifreddo with jammy fig sauce
A celebration of figs at their most intense – fragrant, coconut-y leaves and sweet, jammy fruit combine here is a very simple make-ahead pud. An even simpler pud might involve just the jammy figs, which will keep for a week in the fridge and is like a very loosely set jam, and a tub of ice-cream, but where’s the romance in that?
Serves 6
3 fresh fig leaves
400ml double cream
5 eggs
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