Sage and honey baked figs with ginger butter biscuits

Baked figs make an excellent dessert dish that is not too heavy but which has masses of interesting flavours – these flavours being provided by the figs themselves, the sage and the honey.  The ginger butter biscuits accompany the figs beautifully but that are also excellent with ginger-flavoured sorbets or simply by themselves.

Preparation Time: 20 Mins

Cooking Time: 36 Mins

Total Time: 1½ Hrs

Ingredients

For 6 servings…

6                    Figs         

10                  Sage leaves

3 tbs               Honey  - runny        

2 tbs               Water  - warm         

For the ginger butter biscuits

100 gms          Butter       

90 gms            Sugar  - caster        

100 gms          Flour        

20 gms            Cornflour   

1 tsp               Baking powder        

1 tsp               Ginger  - ground      

To serve

150 gms          Crème fraîche          

Method

To make the ginger butter biscuits…

Preheat an oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Cream the butter with the sugar in a bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients, mix well and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Roll a walnut-sized teaspoon of biscuit dough to make a ball and then repeat to make six balls (using half the biscuit dough).  Space them evenly on the baking tray.  The biscuits spread significantly, so allow room between then for this to happen.  Bake in the oven for eight minutes, until they have flattened and started to turn golden.  Remove, leave to cool and harden on the tray for five minutes, and then slide them off with a palette knife.

Repeat the process with the remaining biscuit dough.

Store in an airtight container until required.

To cook the figs…

Preheat an oven to 200°C.

Put four of the sage leaves in the base of an ovenproof dish that will hold the six figs snugly.  Cut a cross into each fruit from the stalk to two thirds of the way down.  Squeeze each fig at its base to encourage the centre to present itself and slot a sage leaf in each of them.  Place the figs in the dish.

Mix the honey with two tablespoons of warm water and pour it in and over the figs.  Bake the figs for 20 minutes, basting them with the honey and fig juices after 10 minutes.  They should be soft and sticky, but still intact.

Decant the figs into bowls.  Pour a couple of spoons of juice over the top of each fig and serve with a generous dollop of crème fraiche and two ginger butter biscuits per person.

Wine recommendations

A sweet wine or a fortified wine.

Conventional

     Beaumes de Venise

Interesting

     Coteau du Layon

     Monbazillac

Adventurous

     Bual Madeira

     Palo Cortado Sherry