A Bounty of Figs!

Not this little Figue…

It’s been an amazing year for figs, except for my tree, which still hasn’t fruited after three or four years. After a very rainy June and July, much of August and September has been dry, so that’s helped the figs ripen without getting too sodden, making them very sweet. Usually, we get figs closer to Labor Day, but they are much later this year, and my friend expects to have them well into October.

Friends who are overwhelmed with figs are picking about 60 a day, so they have shared their bounty, as you can see above! Of course, I had to pay it forward. I gave another fig-loving friend a dozen, and made my Drunken Fig Jam with the remainder.

I have a recipe I’ve used the past few times, but this time I felt like I could switch it up a bit. Instead of using lemon peel, I used orange peel, paring it into very thin strips with a julienne peeler. You can see some of the peel above. I also used sugar in the raw instead of white sugar and then tossed in a tiny bit of vanilla sugar, too. The original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon of bourbon – I mean, really? What is the point of that??? I used about a half a cup!

This mixture sits for an hour or so to macerate and draw out the juices, and then it’s cooked over a low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. I do add a bit of pectin to make sure it sets, because I don’t like it to be too runny. I also give it a whizz with my immersion blender to break it up a bit. I serve the jam with a nice goat cheese and good crackers or slices of French bread. It is really marvelous. I might have to beg for more figs!