Fig jam for your cheese plate

My favorite fig jam!

It’s great on toast but it really shines when eaten with cheese. Of course, we have to pair it with the correct cheese… maybe I’ll write about that some other time!

This fig jam, which I make every year, is easy enough but you have to follow the recipe precisely. You can use green, black, or brown figs, whatever you can get fresh.  Note that the green figs tend to have a thicker skin.

Fig jam 

•     2 pounds or 900g of fresh figs

•     1 whole lemon, squeezed

•     2/3 cup or 160cc water

•     600g of sugar

•     1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1.   Remove the stem of the figs and dice the figs into small cubes, less than a half inch. Put all the diced figs into the pot.

2.    Squeeze the lemon and add the lemon juice and water to the fig pot. Cook down the figs over low heat for 20 to 30 minutes until the skin on fig is soft.

3.   When the mixture starts to look a lot like jam, add sugar and vanilla extract and increase the heat to medium heat.

4.   Remove the white layer of bubbles that appear on the surface (look at the picture for reference). Continue to cook until the mixture becomes half the amount now.

5.   Turn the heat off, and let the jam cool. Store in a sterilized, airtight container and store in the fridge.

*If you’re planning to keep the jam for a longer time, you should sterilize the container in boiling water
*It’s key to cook the figs first, with water and lemon juice, until the figs soften before adding sugar!

Enjoy the jam with wine and cheese on a cold winter night!