Fig Compote

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Have you ever wondered what to do with fresh figs beside eating them raw? Your answer is fig compote. Quick and easy to make with a little bit of sugar and some natural flavourings, super easy to adapt to your taste and just so delicious.

Course Breakfast, Dessert

Cuisine British, International

Keyword fig compote

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 80kcal

Author Jo Allison

Equipment

Medium saucepan*

Ingredients

500 g fresh figs stems removed, halved or quartered
2 tablespoon brown sugar adjust to taste, see notes for substitutes
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) or use vanilla pod
1 whole cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1-2 tablespoon lemon juice (or to taste) you can also use some zest if you want
1-2 tbsp water (optional) figs will release their own juice but you can use some water to get them going (see notes for more info)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Start by gathering your ingredients.
Wash and gently dry the figs.
Cut off the stems and halve or quarter the figs depending on their size and your preference. You are looking for more or less uniform pieces.
500 g fresh figs
Put the figs in a medium saucepan with a lid. Add lemon juice and zest, water, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon stick and star anise. Give it a gentle mix.
2 tablespoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional), 1 whole cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice (or to taste), 1-2 tablespoon water (optional), 500 g fresh figs
Put the saucepan on a medium heat, partially cover and let the mixture come to gentle boil.
Turn the heat down, take off the lid and continue simmering until you reach desired consistency (anything between 10 minutes to half an hour ). Make sure not to leave the compote without supervision and to give it a gentle stir from time to time to prevent it from catching.
Take the saucepan with fig compote off the heat and let it cool a bit.
Serve immediately or transfer to suitable container and store in the fridge.
Enjoy!

Notes

Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (based on 6 servings) and should be treated as a rough guideline only.
The amount of sugar you decide to add is up to you. Follow your tastebuds. You can always add a little bit to start with and adjust if needed. Feel free to substitute brown sugar with any other type of sugar or perhaps swap it for honey, maple syrup, agave syrup etc.
Feel free to use different flavourings, see 📝 Ingredients and substitutes above.
Lemon juice cuts nicely through the sweetness of the compote but make sure you use the amount of juice to suit your taste. You can always add more. Orange juice could be used instead of lemon. Use lemon/orange zest for a little more flavour if you want.
Whether you add water or not is up to you. You can start off your figs with a little water especially if you like your compote on a "saucy" side. If initially you decide not to, you can always add splash of water as they cook if you see they're getting a bit dry.

Nutrition