What do you do when you have (what feels like) millions of figs on your tree? You eat as many as you can, obviously. And then you give a couple bunches away. And then you eat some more. But when you get sick of eating them raw, you have to think of other stuff to do with them. In the past, we made jam (yum!), but we wanted to do something different now. Like roasting them. And then we looked through How Easy Is That? and saw that Ina has a recipe for roasted figs with caramel sauce! We LOVE caramel. So of course we had to try this recipe out, and aren’t we glad that we did!
Roasted Figs with Caramel Sauce, adapted from Ina Garten
Ingredients:
- 24 to 30 fresh figs (from your own fig tree if possible!)
- 6 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted*
For the caramel:
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
To make the caramel:
1. Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and mix together. Cook on low heat until the sugar dissolves. Then, cover the pot and put on high for three minutes. Uncover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until the sugar turns chestnut brown. Watch the pot carefully, because the caramel will burn very quickly!
2. Turn off the heat and stand back while you add the cream and vanilla.
3. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until the caramel dissolves and he sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes.
4. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours, because it thickens as it sits (though I love to eat it HOT!)
Make the figs:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut the stems off the figs and cut them in half through the stem.
3. Place cut side up on a baking sheet and roast for 10-15 minutes, until tender.
4. Warm the caramel sauce.
5. Place the figs on a serving dish or in individual dessert bowls, and drizzle with the caramel. Sprinkle with almonds and serve warm.
*oops! We forgot the almonds – the recipe was amazing, anyway, though the textural contrast of the almonds would add a delicious touch to them. So try not to forget them!
