Baked Figs

İncır Tatlısı

 

 

My mother has always had a special love for figs, and it has proved infectious. As the summer approaches, I catch myself checking the fig trees daily. Then one glorious day, the farmers will drive their pickup trucks into the villages and towns, selling their delicate produce by the kilo. I believe the very best way to eat figs is immediately. Or so I thought, until I discovered this magical recipe. It was disastrously good. It’s an easy no-fuss summer dessert, but also works a treat as an elegant finish to a dinner party.

 

12                         fresh figs

3 tsp                     vanilla sugar

12 pinches           cinnamon

12 tsp                   honey

                              chilled kaymak* or clotted cream, to serve

 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

 

1. Cut a cross from the top of each fig going ¾ of the way to the base, dividing the stem in four. Arrange the figs in a snugly-fitting baking tray.       

 

2. Sprinkle the vanilla sugar over the fig ‘flowers’, ½ tsp of sugar per fig.  Next, sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon, 1 pinch for each fig. Last of all, drizzle 1 tsp of honey over each fig.

 

3. Pop the tray in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then remove. Spoon 3 figs into each bowl, spoon the sauce generously around the sides and top with a dollop of kaymak or cream on top. Enjoy.

 

SERVES 4.

 

NOTE: Turkish desserts are almost always served cold, and Turks will usually let this cool completely before serving. But I must say, although cold baked figs are lovely, I love mine hot. Serve straight from the oven with the kaymak/cream melting into the sauce.

 

 

*Kaymak is cream made from buffalo milk. It is commonly available in Turkey, but if you live overseas a thick clotted cream will substitute nicely.