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Dessert

Fig Filling

A sweet fig preserve made by cooking figs with water and sugar 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

Cook the filling

  1. In a granite pan, combine the figs and water.

  2. Add the sugar and cook over medium heat.

  3. Stir until the mixture thickens and can hold its shape on a spoon.

Assemble

  1. Spread the filling between layers of 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 body, flavor, and natural pectin that helps the jam set.
Sugar
Sweetens the jam and, as water evaporates, helps it thicken and set.

The step that matters

Stirring until the mixture holds its shape on a spoon. Jam sets when enough water evaporates that sugar and fruit pectin form a gel. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while cooking too long can make it stiff and sticky once cooled.

“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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