On one of the hottest days last week, as I walked along the back of the herb garden where the Benton irises sit at the base of the breezeblock wall, I was suddenly aware of a strong scent, which at first I couldn’t place. Mingled with the musky spearmint of calamint and resinous tang of lavender was a warm, fruity perfume that stood out. The afternoon sun beating down on the wall had created a hot spot alongside one of the granite water troughs and it is at this junction, just before the steps to the upper level, that our Afghan fig is planted.
The unfamiliar smell was coming from the leaves of the fig. Green and floral like freshly cut hay, but with a distinct undertone of coconut. Instantly I was reminded that last summer I had dried some fig leaves to be used as a flavouring for winter desserts. As well as coconut, the flavour that fig leaves impart has something of both almond and vanilla and so lends itself very well to milk and cream-based desserts; panna cotta, rice pudding or clafoutis. But in the long-awaited heat of last week, what I immediately had a hankering for was fig leaf ice cream.
I first had fig leaf ice cream at Gelupo, the excellent Italian gelateria associated with Jacob Kennedy’s Bocca di Lupo in London’s Soho, a visit to which makes a decadent ending to an evening at the cinema or a special weekend treat. They specialise in seasonal gelati, sorbets and granitas made from the best ingredients available and in unusual flavour combinations. So the February menu might feature blood orange sorbet, May a strawberry and black pepper sherbet and November a prune and Armagnac ice. After one mouthful of fig leaf ice cream I was smitten. Always a sucker for a novel flavour there was something terribly grown up about it, a luxurious and sophisticated cousin of vanilla.
This is the season to pick your leaves if you want to put some away for the winter. The younger ones have a stronger flavour. You can allow them to dry slowly and naturally, put them in a low oven until crisp or do as I did and put them into the dehydrator overnight. They should then be stored in an airtight container. If you are going to use fresh fig leaves to make this recipe then these should be dried first.
Last weekend I served this with green figs preserved in syrup, the solution to last year’s surfeit of unripe ‘Brown Turkey’ figs which, despite our south-facing position, failed to ripen in the cool, wet summer. These can be made at any point between now and the end of October, or the first frosts.
The process of making them is a little time consuming and takes a few days, as they must be boiled and soaked several times to remove the fig latex. However, each stage of the process doesn’t take long and there is something calming about the slower more attentive pace of making them over an extended period of time. The milky sap can cause phytophotodermatitis in some people, where the skin becomes sensitised to sunlight, causing burns, so care should be taken when harvesting both leaves and fruit. Best to wear gloves. However, this property of the latex is destroyed by heat.
Spoon sweets like these are customarily served at the end of a meal in Greece, alongside a plate of chilled Greek yogurt. The quantities here fill around six 300ml wide mouth jars, keep for a year or longer and make excellent winter gifts. The flavourings can be adjusted to make them more seasonal, with orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or cloves.
The combination of preserved figs and leaves here was too good to pass up, but the ice cream is equally good with baked figs or any roasted stone fruit such as apricots, peaches or plums. I have a feeling it would be really good with roasted grapes.
Candied Green Figs
1kg small green figs
Peeled whole almonds, one per fig
600ml water
200ml lemon juice
1kg sugar
Zest of three lemons, peeled in strips
12 whole cardamom pods, lightly crushed
6 lemon or rose geranium leaves
Makes around six 300ml wide mouth jars
Ice Cream
250ml full fat milk
250ml single cream
90g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
4 dried fig leaves
Serves 6
To make the candied figs, wash them and put them into a pan of cold water to cover and bring to the boil. Boil hard for 10 minutes and remove from the heat. Drain and put the figs into a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. Repeat this process. Put the figs back into the pan, cover with cold water and leave to stand overnight. The next day drain the figs, cover them with fresh cold water and bring to the boil again. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly and allow to cool. With a sharp knife make a small cross-shaped incision in the base of each fruit, then gently push a whole almond into the base of each fig, taking care not to split the fruit.
Put the water, lemon juice, sugar, cardamom pods and lemon zest into a pan and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes, removing any scum that appears with a slotted spoon. Take off the heat, add the figs, bring back to the boil and boil for another 10 minutes until the fruits becomes translucent. Remove from the heat and add the geranium leaves, if using. Leave to stand overnight. The next day sterilise the jars and lids. Put the figs back on the heat and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to settle for a few minutes and then divide the figs and syrup between the hot jars, ensuring that the cardamom pods, lemon zest and geranium leaves are divided equally between them. Screw on the lids tightly and allow to cool.
To make the ice cream put the milk and cream into a pan and put on a medium heat until steaming. Do not allow to boil. Remove from the heat and add the fig leaves, pushing them under the surface. Allow to stand with the lid on for an hour.
Remove the fig leaves and squeeze well to extract as much flavour as possible. Add the sugar and return the milk and cream to a low heat for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.
Put the egg yolks into a bowl and whisk until combined. Temper the eggs by adding a couple of spoonfuls of the hot milk and cream and stirring well. Add a few more spoonfuls of the milk and cream, stirring well and then slowly pour in the remainder, stirring all the time.
Return the milk, cream and eggs to the pan and put over a low heat. Stir continuously until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and cool quickly in a sink of cold water. Keep stirring. Once the custard has cooled down pass it through a sieve to remove any lumps that may have formed.
Put it into a sealable container in the fridge and chill for several hours or overnight.
Put the custard into the freezer. After an hour stir vigorously with a fork to break up the ice crystals. Return to the freezer. Repeat this process every hour until the ice cream is too stiff to stir.
Remove the ice cream from the freezer 15 to 30 minutes before you want to serve – the time required for the ice cream to soften will depend on how warm the room is. Using a metal spoon scoop the ice cream into the serving bowls. Add one or two figs depending on how sweet a tooth you have.
This is delicious with any fruit, but is particularly good with roast figs or any roasted stone fruit such as apricots, peaches or plums, or fresh raspberries.
Recipe and photographs: Huw Morgan
Published 10 August 2024
