Tastefully Overcaramelized

Ann says

I had my first fresh figs when I was about 6. I liked them fine. What I didn’t realize was that fresh ones wouldn’t reappear in my life until I was 14, when my mom told me that she loved fresh figs and we bought some at the grocery store for something like a billion dollars each. And they were better than I remembered. Honey-like and sticky. Like a knapsack full of tasty beads. I am eating one now. Hooray for leftovers.

The thing is, I love fruit. I love it so much. I love to eat it fresh, broil it, put it on salads, put it on meat, make it into desserts, and maybe even put it on my face as an exfoliant sometimes. Pineapple enzymes, my friends. When it’s hot out I hate to cook, but the last few days have been in the mid 70s and cloudy, so I felt like a fruit tart was perfectly acceptable.

Abe’s parents came to town. They are actually very nice. But you know, boyfriend parents. So we made dinner for them. We made something summery. Pork loin with fresh peach glaze, roasted broccoli, and rice. Had to have rice, which is just fine with me because I like rice. The three of them are currently discussing Latin language and the Roman empire. I am writing this post because I know nothing about either of those things, which is also just fine with me.

The thing I was definitely most happy with was the tart. I didn’t know what kind of fruit tart I wanted to make. I wanted to see what there was. We went to Whole Foods because Abe likes it best, and lo, there it was, a huge pile of figs. Two kinds. Light and Dark. I don’t know what they are called. Figs. So I got one of each kind and a bag of cherries because I thought they would go well with the figs. We went home and had terribly awkward conversation and cooked. I started the tart. I made the pate brisee crust like I always do and stuck it in it’s pan and into the freezer. The figs were fantastically ripe. The slightly flowering part at the bottom of the inside of the figs was creamy sweet. The cherries were juicy and tender. Halving them stained the tips of my fingers dark maroon. I was the fruit tart murderess. And oh, the Ficoco. The Ficoco was a spread Abe bought a long time ago and never used. It is made with figs and cocoa only, and is very pleasantly spreadable. I put that all over the bottom of the tart pan first. It was SO GOOD. This tart is now my favorite tart ever. I like it better than tarts with pastry cream and strawberries! Seriously! I hope you like it too…

Abe says

This tart was truly outstanding and does indeed rival even pastry cream. I was first tipped off to Ficoco by Lisa of Pittsburgh Needs Eated, and dismayed that it took another year before it arrived on this coast; it lacks the creaminess any fat would give, but is delicious and lends subtle complementary flavors to this tart. Pâte brisée is buttery and shortbread-like and stands up well to the liquid released by the fruit. As evidenced below, our original incarnation left quite a bit of liquid, but spooned off it can be nicely drizzled on top. The recipe here uses flour to soak it up, though, which works better. Lastly, to avoid extending this exceptionally long post longer than absolutely necessary, the figs Ann used were black mission and brown turkey, but please use whatever you can find fresh.

Fig and Cherry Tart

Crust Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/4 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour for more texture
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 stick of butter, very cold
- 3-6 tablespoons ice cold water

Mix the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter into the flour in about 1/2 Tbsp pieces. Smoosh the flour and butter together with your fingers until it is the same consistency as it was for the biscuits…small pieces of butter amidst the flour with some of the flour incorporated into the butter. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of the cold water all over the flour and butter mixture. Using a fork, stir this together and press on the mixture lightly to incorporate everything. Touch it with your hands. If it feels like you could pull it together without all the flour falling out that is enough water. If not, add more water as seems necessary. While the flour is still not fully incorporated use your hands to lightly knead the mixture together in the bowl. It should not be perfectly evenly distributed, but hold together pretty well once in a ball. Make it into a flat round and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour. Remove from the plastic wrap and roll it out to a round that will fit in your tart pan. I got to about 1/8 inch thickness. Press the crust into the pan and press the dough off the edges. if you don’t have a tart pan you can just put it down flat on a cookie sheet and when you finish putting on the fruit you will fold the edges over onto the fruit a little bit and brush with egg wash. Freeze this dough while you prepare the fruit.

Filling Ingredients:
- About a cup and a half of cherries, halved and pitted
- Two 1 pint containers of fresh figs, quartered the long way, or if very large, cut into sixths
- 2 Tbsp Ficoco or 1 tsp cocoa powder mixed with 2 Tbsp of your favorite preserves
- 2 Tbsp flour
- 2 Tbsp sugar

Note: I think that this recipe would work OK with re-hydrated dried figs. I would suggest quartering the dried figs long ways and soaking them in rum or bourbon or really any good alcohol that you like. Then use them just as you would the fresh figs. I really love the fresh figs, though.

It takes some time to cut the fruit up, but that is a good time to freeze the dough and preheat the oven to 410 degrees. Once all the fruit is ready, spread the Ficoco or fruit and cocoa spread on the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle this with the flour evenly to coat. This absorbs the juices while cooking. Top that with an even layer of cherry halves, cut side up. Top those with the figs cut side up. The cherries should be completely covered. Sprinkle with sugar evenly. Dot the top with small pieces of butter. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the figs just begin to caramelize and the crust is browned. Remove and let cool for an hour.

Serve with whipped cream or sweetened creme fraiche.

Filed under: Desserts by Ann on July 6, 2008. Tagged with: cherries, figs.