Quick and Easy Fig Jam
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for Sweet Confections, a gorgeous guide to making candy at home.
You know what I love? Having friends with gardens. My tiny backyard has a little space for growing things, but between it being shaded almost all day and my non-green thumb, I haven’t had much luck producing anything out there. Luckily, I live in an area that’s surrounded by farmland, so I can get fantastic seasonal produce at the farmer’s market. And when I’m extra lucky, I have friends and coworkers giving me baskets and bags of produce for free. Last week I received a pound of ripe figs, begging to be made into something. Figs are so expensive (and delicious) that I usually just eat them fresh – they don’t need much adornment, although I am curious to try grilling or caramelizing them.
Having a whole pound was so luxurious. So many ideas danced in my head: a gorgeous fig tart, fig and marscarpone creme brulee, fig ice cream…in the end, I was pressed for time and ingredients, so I made a simple fig jam. It’s seriously simple – 4 ingredients simmered for 20 minutes and poured into jars. It’s such a small batch it doesn’t call for boiling the jars. Instead, simply store them in the fridge for up to 3 months. I’m sure they will be gone by then.
I cut the recipe in half (by all means double it if you have 2 pounds of figs) and reduced the sugar. The result was 2 jars of pretty pink-purple jam, chunky and sweet with a bit of tangy flavor from the lemon juice.
Recipe:
- 1 pound fresh figs, stemmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (around 1 large lemon)
- 1/4 cup water
- Combine fig pieces and sugar in a large, nonreactive saucepan and let sit, stirring occasionally for around 15 minutes (until sugar has mostly dissolved and figs are juicy).
- Add lemon juice and water to figs. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for around 20 minutes (until fruit is soft and the liquid runs off the side of a spoon in thick, heavy drops).
- Spoon jam into 1 to 2 clean 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Seal jars and let cool to room temperature. Store jam in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. (Alternatively, if you want to store the jam at room temperature, see my post on how to can jam.)
No. 1 — October 5th, 2011 at 11:16 am
Great minds think alike! I just posted about raspberry & fig jam a couple days ago: http://www.kitchentravels.com/2011/10/raspberry-and-fig-jam-recipe.html
Isn’t it great to get free figs?
xo, Dawn
No. 2 — October 5th, 2011 at 1:35 pm
@Dawn – your jam looks wonderful! I love the idea of adding raspberries to it.
No. 3 — October 5th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
Fig jam/preserves are probably my favorite preserves of all. I have a lot of good memories surrounding them, strange as that sounds. Thanks for sharing
No. 4 — October 5th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
FANTASTIC! I love fig jam and to have one that doesn’t require all the canning crazy is awesome!
No. 5 — October 5th, 2011 at 11:15 pm
I love fig jam, I recently got some as a gift that had ginger in it too. I agree I love that it doesnt require canning. (Im still too chicken to try it)
No. 6 — October 6th, 2011 at 11:34 am
I had a friend give me a whole bunch too. I love my fig jam. This looks fantastic.
No. 7 — October 17th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Looks delish! Aren’t we lucky we live in Sac? Seems like our farmers markets & friends’ gardens are always overflowing with stuff.
No. 8 — November 5th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Am going to use your recipe to make my first fig jam ever… So thanks for sharing. I am toying around with putting lemon zest in it too and was wondering if you’ve tried that or what you think of the idea. Thanks!
No. 9 — November 7th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
@Bobi – It had a relatively strong lemon flavor with just the juice, so I would only add zest if you want a lemon-fig jam.