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Dessert

Fig Paste for Cake

A thickened paste made from figs, sugar, and water, cooked until it thickens.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 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 ↓

Fig Paste for Cake

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Chop the figs.

  2. Cook the chopped figs with the sugar and water over medium heat.

  3. Stir until the mixture thickens to a paste.

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

Figs
Provide the main body, flavour and natural pectin that help the paste set as it thickens.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps thicken the paste as it cooks down, while preserving it.
Water
Softens the chopped figs so they break down evenly into a smooth mixture.

The step that matters

Stir until the mixture thickens to a paste. Stirring keeps the figs from scorching on the bottom of the pan as the water evaporates and the sugar concentrates. Stop once the mixture holds its shape, because it firms further as it cools.

“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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