Recipe: Simple Roasted Figs

This week on the Market Report, Laura Avery talks with Robert Wemischner, professor of baking and pastry at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, about roasting figs with cream and sugar to create an easy Mother’s Day dessert.

Wemischner is the author of four cookbooks including The Dessert Architect.

Simple Roasted Figs

(From Robert Wemischner, professor of baking and pastry at Los Angeles Trade Technical College)

Serves four

Ingredients

4 large or 12 small fresh figs, stems removed – Figure 3 small figs or 1 large fig per person

Panela or piloncillo, grated (or medium brown sugar) – Due to size and sweetness differential, amounts are approximate here, but 1 tablespoon of sugar per portion is a good approximation

Heavy cream (figure 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) per serving, plus 1 additional cup softly whipped to serve with the figs

Slivered almonds, toasted (1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Make two perpendicular cuts in each fig, starting at the stem end. Then gently press the fig apart to create a kind of flower with four petals.

Place the figs on a silicone mat (Silpat) set on a sheet pan.

Grate the panela or piloncillo evenly over the figs.

Pour the cream over the sugar and place the sheet pan into the preheated oven for approximately 5-7 minutes. Watch carefully. The sugar should melt and the cream bubble up. Remove from the oven.

Spoon any sugar and cream that has spread out onto the Silpat. Place the figs with their “sauce” on dessert plates, scatter almonds over each serving and serve with a bowl of softly whipped cream (no sugar needed, if the figs are sweet). A glass of vin santo would be heavenly with these.