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Dessert

Fig Filling

A sweet filling made by cooking minced figs with sugar and sherry until thick.

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 sherry work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Fig Filling

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Mince the figs.

  2. In a saucepan, combine the minced figs, sugar, and sherry.

  3. Cook over medium heat until thick and syrupy.

Finish

  1. Spread the filling immediately.

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 + sherrytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

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

  3. Sherry + sugartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,141 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the bulk of the filling and its fruity flavor and body as they break down.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps the filling become thick and syrupy.
Sherry
Adds acidity and aroma, and its liquid helps the figs soften and cook down.

The step that matters

Cook until thick and syrupy. Sugar and fruit pectin thicken as water evaporates and the mixture concentrates. Stopping too early leaves a runny filling, while cooking too long can make it stiff once it cools.

Swap the fig

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Pineapplefits about as well
  4. Applefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, sugar. 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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