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Fig Filling

A custard-based filling made with figs, raisins, eggs, sugar, water, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Fig Filling

Why it works: Fig and raisin work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 737 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Fig Filling

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Make a custard by cooking the eggs, sugar, and water in a double boiler until thickened.

  2. Allow the custard to cool moderately.

Add the fruit

  1. Stir in the chopped figs, raisins, and brandy.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Fig + raisintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 recipes

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

  2. Fig + brandytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together222 recipes

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

  3. Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,768 recipes

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

  4. Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

  5. Fig + sugartop 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

Eggs
Eggs thicken the custard as they cook and set, giving the filling its body.
Sugar
Sugar adds sweetness to the custard and the finished filling.
Figs
Figs supply most of the filling's bulk, sweetness and soft texture.
Raisins
Chopped raisins add concentrated sweetness and a chewy texture throughout the filling.
Brandy
Brandy adds aroma to the filling.

The step that matters

Cooking the custard in the double boiler. Eggs thicken as their proteins set, and gentle indirect heat keeps them from overcooking and turning grainy or scrambled. Cooking until thickened, not beyond, keeps the custard smooth.

Swap the fig

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, egg, sugar, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Currantfits about as well
  4. Apricotfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, egg, sugar, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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