I know I have gained a reputation for cooking a lot of zucchini, but when the season and fruit/vegetable dictates I can change hats and vary my recipes. Take for example the box of figs a dear friend (Tonya) gave me last week. You might have noticed that several of the recipes lately have been fig related. Oh yeah! Working my way through the figs, I’ve found a few new ways to use them and am delighted to share them with you. A recent one being Fig & Ricotta Sandwich aka Italian Grilled Cheese. Oh so delicious!
And take this bread for example. In the past, I’ve made dozens of varieties of zucchini bread (ya think?), banana bread, limoncello loaf, date nut bread, etc. Today I’m making fig bread which highly resembles date nut bread in taste and texture in my opinion.
The best part is that I didn’t need to peel the figs, just wash the skins, cut off stems, and quarter them. I mashed them a little but only enough to semi-accurately measure two cups worth for the recipe. The key here is to use medium-sized bread loaf pans. I tried a larger loaf pan and it took much longer to cook and then sank in the middle when done. By using medium-sized loaf pans the bread cooked perfectly and the top kept a slight dome shape which is preferred.
The bread is light, yet dense in flavors. Warm out of the oven and topped with a spoonful of homemade fig jam, it was heavenly!
Recipe makes two solid loaves of bread. One to eat now, one for the freezer or gift it (if you can part with it).
Chock full of fig and nut goodness!
I cut into the bread before it had completely cooled because I wanted to take pictures for the blog, but after it had cooled it sliced better.
Makes 2 loaves
Save RecipeIngredients
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups ripe figs, quartered & lightly mashed
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- PREP: pre-heat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pans.
- Beat eggs with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and mix well.
- Add mashed figs and vegetable oil to mixture.
- Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients alternating with the milk. Beat until well blended.
- Spoon in chopped pecans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
Use medium-sized loaf pans for best results.
Nutrition