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Dessert

Fig Filling

A sweet filling made from figs, raisins, almonds, water, and plain boiled icing.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Fig Filling

Why it works: Raisin and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Fig Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Cover the cut figs with 3 tablespoons of water and heat through.

  2. Chop the figs, raisins, and almonds finely.

  3. Add the chopped mixture to the plain boiled icing.

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. Raisin + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

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

  2. Fig + almondtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together519 recipes

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

  3. Fig + raisintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 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 and sweetness, softening into a thick, spreadable filling when heated.
Raisins
Add concentrated sweetness and chewy texture that complements the figs.
Almonds
Contribute crunch and nutty flavour against the soft fruit.
Plain boiled icing
Acts as the binding base that holds the chopped fruit and nuts together as a filling.

The step that matters

Heat the figs with water until they soften. Dried figs are firm and need moisture and gentle heat to soften; if they stay hard, the chopped pieces will not blend into the icing smoothly and the filling will feel gritty.

“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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