There's a brief window every year when fresh figs are actually available, and if you've ever walked past them at a farmers market or a good grocery store (or your neighbor's yard) and kept walking... this is your sign to stop next time.
To be honest, I don't love eating figs on their own (weird texture ya know?) but they've always made for fun syrups and infusions. I love how they are somehow both floral and kinda "jammy," and they are one of the few things you can use to easily make a fall-ish syrup without leaning on cinnamon or cloves, or your usual fall flavors.
This batch yields about 6 oz of syrup... intentionally small because that's usually the right amount for a home enthusiast to work through before it loses its freshness, and it's easy to scale up if you want more. Fresh fig season is short though, so move on this one while you can.
What You'll Need:
- 200g fresh figs, stems removed and quartered (about 6ā€“8 figs depending on size)
- 175g raw cane sugar (roughly Ā¾ cup)
- 150ml water (roughly ā…” cup)
- 3ā€“4 strips fresh orange peel (outer layer only... avoid the white pith)
- Small pinch of kosher salt
Scale up proportionally if you want a larger batch.
Instructions:
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Simmer the figs. Combine the figs, water, and orange peel in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking the figs down as they soften. Let it go for about 15 minutes. By the end the figs should be completely broken down and the liquid should be taking on a "rosy" color.
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Steep off heat. Remove the pan from the burner, add the pinch of salt, and let everything sit for another 15 minutes. The orange peel continues to work... pull it earlier if you want less citrus presence, leave it longer if you want more.
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Add the sugar. Return to low heat and stir until fully dissolved. Don't let it boil at this stage.
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Strain. Pour through a cheesecloth-lined strainer and press firmly on the fig solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Figs are pulpy, so press harder than you would with berries.
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Cool completely and bottle. Keeps about 2 weeks refrigerated.
A Note on Fresh Figs
Fresh figs are delicate and their flavor is more subtle than you might expect. Taste the liquid before you add the sugar... if the fig flavor seems thin or faint, let it simmer a little longer before moving on. You want the fig clearly present in the finished syrup, and not buried under sweetness.
Color is a good indicator too. A well-made fresh fig syrup should come out somewhere between deep rose and burgundy depending on the variety you're working with. If it looks pale, the figs probably needed more time on the heat.
How to Use It
- Bourbon or rye on the rocks with a small measure of fig syrup and an expressed orange peel, maybe some bitters too. Okay, an Old Fashioned. Duh.
- Fig Sour: 2 oz gin or bourbon, Ā¾ oz fresh lemon juice, Ā½ oz fig syrup. Shake and strain over ice.
- Sparkling Fig: fig syrup, a squeeze of fresh orange, sparkling water. Clean and easy.
- Mezcal riff: mezcal, fresh lime, fig syrup, a few dashes of mole bitters.
- Champagne or Prosecco cocktail: a small pour of fig syrup in the bottom of a flute, top with bubbles, express an orange peel over the top.
Final Pour
Fresh fig season is short. If you see them, buy them. Make this. See what you build around it.
And if you want a place to share what you're mixing it into, the Cocktail Club is where that conversation lives: https://www.hppcocktailclub.com/learn
ā€”Jordan
High-Proof Preacher
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