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To Dry Figs

This recipe describes how to dry figs using soda solution, sugar syrup, and sun or oven.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and sugar 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 ↓

To Dry Figs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the figs

  1. Make a strong solution of soda and water.

  2. Dip the ripe figs in the solution and wipe them dry.

Make the syrup

  1. Prepare a syrup with ½ pound of sugar for every pound of figs.

  2. When the syrup thickens, add the figs and let them scald.

Dry and pack

  1. Place the figs on a flat dish, stem side up, and press them flat with another dish.

  2. Sprinkle with fine sugar and cover with a frame to protect from insects.

  3. Dry in the hot sun, turning with a knife when dry.

  4. Pack in boxes or jars with sugar between layers.

  5. If damp, dry in an oven.

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. 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

Ripe figs
Provide the fruit that is softened, dried and concentrated into a chewy, sweet preserve.
Sugar
Sweetens the figs and, as syrup, draws out moisture and helps preserve them.
Soda
Alkaline solution that helps the skins soften so moisture can leave the fruit.

The step that matters

Let the figs scald in the syrup. Heating the figs in thickened sugar syrup draws out water and replaces it with sugar, which slows spoilage. Stopping too early leaves the fruit wet and prone to fermenting during drying.

“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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