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Dessert

Cocoanut Fig Squares

A sweet treat made from sugar, glucose, figs, and coconut, cooked to caramel consistency and cut into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and fig are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,241 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Cocoanut Fig Squares

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 240°F (115°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the mixture

  1. Dissolve sugar and glucose in water over heat.

  2. Cook the mixture to 240°F (115°C).

  3. Remove from heat and stir in ground figs and fine cocoanut.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture onto a slab and roll it out to the height of caramels.

  2. Once cold, cut into small squares.

Finish

  1. Roll the squares in granulated sugar and sift off the excess sugar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + figtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, once cooked, the firm body that holds the squares together.
Glucose
Inhibits crystallization so the cooked mixture stays smooth and soft rather than grainy.
Ground figs
Adds fruit sweetness, flavor, and moisture to the set squares.
Fine cocoanut
Adds bulk and texture to the filling and absorbs some of the moisture.

The step that matters

Cook the mixture to 240°F (115°C). This temperature sets how firm the squares will be once cool. Undercooked mixture stays soft and sticky, while overcooked mixture becomes hard and brittle. Sugar concentration determines the final texture.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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