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Dessert

Fig Filling

A sweet filling made from figs, sweet cream, sugar, hickory nuts, salt, and cornstarch.

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

Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Fig Filling

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the figs

  1. Cut the figs finely.

  2. Soak them in cold water until soft, or boil until tender.

  3. Mash the figs finely.

Cook the filling

  1. Add the sugar, hickory nuts, salt, and sweet cream to the mashed figs.

  2. Boil the mixture for about five minutes.

  3. While boiling, add a pinch of cornstarch dissolved in water, or a tablespoon of lemon filling.

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. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Fig + nutstop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together154 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

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

  4. Cream + nutstop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together886 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Sugar + nutstop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,228 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the main body and sweet fruit flavor of the filling.
Sweet cream
Adds richness and moisture, softening the filling's texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and helps it hold a soft, spreadable body.
Hickory nuts
Add crunch and a rich, nutty aroma to the filling.
Cornstarch
Thickens the boiling mixture so it sets to a spreadable consistency.

The step that matters

Adding the cornstarch while boiling. Cornstarch thickens only when heated, and it must be dissolved in water first so it blends in without lumps. Added to a mixture that is already boiling, it thickens quickly, so stirring is needed to keep the filling smooth.

Swap the nuts

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

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Pistachiofits better
  3. Hazelnutfits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against fig, cream, 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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