Last year I wasn’t thrilled with the few recipes that I did with figs. In fact I don’t think that there was one that I could say that I wanted to try again this year other than the incredible basic jam and the fig newtons.
I was very excited to see that the trees had produced enough ripe figs to get my first batch into jars for the season. I wanted the recipe to be different and this year I wasn’t going to pulverize the figs in the jam and let them cook down naturally. I looked to my “go to” books but found that the basics were pretty much the same; strawberry fig jam, fig preserve and figs in a mincemeat. I know that the fig is a very low acid fruit and requires acid in the form of bottled lemon juice and wanted to find a flavor other than lemon to pair with the figs.
I took a peek around the land of “google” to see what popular pairings were popping up when I typed in figs. Unbelievably the one that came up the most was orange.
It is really perfect pairing for the first figs in the jar for 2011!
Fig Heaven Jam
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh figs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey (sage honey is best)
- Zest of two medium navel oranges
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
- 1 1/2 T. Ball no sugar/low sugar pectin
Instructions
- In a small dutch oven or stainless steel pot add quartered figs, sugar and zest of oranges. Bring mixture up to a simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Add honey and lemon juice. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes then bring to boil. Add pectin and return to a boil for one minute.
- Ladle fig jam into 4 half pint sterilized jars. Make sure to fill leaving 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles, refilling if needed.
- Wipe rims and add hot lids and rings. Process in a water bath at a full boil for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on a dish towel overnight. Check jars the next day for seal. Remove rings and store in pantry.
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