My freezer was filled to overflowing and I needed to use as much of the frozen produce as I could to make room for more incoming produce. There was a big bag of figs that I had accumulated through freezing a few figs at a time as they become ripe (beating the birds to them). Last year I made a Fig Slice recipe that was delicious but I had far more figs than the recipe required. The recipe starts with making a jam of sorts so I thought I could make a jam that I could use for slices later. I’ve made Fig & Ginger jam previously but I think it is better with a cheese board than for a slice so this time I thought I would make a sweeter jam.
2kg fresh or frozen figs
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp cinnamon and/or cinnamon stick
1 tbsp vanilla essence and/or vanilla pod
1 tbsp lemon zest
1.5kg sugar (I used half brown sugar and half white)
Chop figs into 1-2cm pieces and place in large heavy-based saucepan with lemon juice and water. Simmer gently until figs are soft (about 20 minutes). If using frozen figs, you can put them in whole and use a stick blender when they have thawed.
Stir in sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and vanilla. I started using just a cinnamon stick and a vanilla pod but decided that I would like the flavour to be stronger so I added ground cinnamon and vanilla essence.
Once sugar has dissolved, bring the mixture to the boil and cook, stirring regularly. I found that the mixture boiled like a mud pool and sent big splashes up that even reached the ceiling, so I stirred it almost constantly.
After at least 30 minutes the jam will noticeably thicken and setting point will be reached. You can test for this by placing a small amount of jam on a cold saucer – the surface should wrinkle when you push your fingernail against it.
Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.
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- Frozen figs
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- Use stick blender once thawed
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- Add remaining ingredients
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- Boil until setting point reached, stirring constantly
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- to avoid splashes on walls and ceiling
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- Fig Jam
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