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Dessert

Fig Filling

A sweet fig filling made by boiling figs with sugar and water until thickened.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Fig Filling

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 ↓

Fig Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine the chopped figs, sugar, and water in a saucepan.

  2. Boil the mixture until it thickens.

  3. Allow it to cool before spreading it between layers and on top of the cake.

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 + 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

Figs
Provide the main fruit flavor and bulk, breaking down into the filling's body as they cook.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps give it a thick, spreadable texture.

The step that matters

Boil until thickened. Cooking drives off water and lets the figs and sugar set into a spreadable texture. Stop too early and the filling stays runny and soaks into the cake; cook it too long and it turns stiff and sticky.

“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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