Baked Black Figs Ratafia Hot Gluten-free Dessert Appetiser

Juicy and delicious, served hot or cold, here I'm using a medium size fresh black fig, the variety is Col de Dame Noir. The fig is named for the fashionable high lace collars, in this case black (but there is a white and grey version too), which were being when this fig was first raised. There is a baby fig variety called Ronde de Bordeaux and if you choose these you can obviously make twice as many appetisers from the same amount of topping. I created this simple recipe a few years back in late Summer, when a friend turned up with a huge bag full of black figs from his garden. We ate many of them fresh but when the remainder became very ripe, we found they were even more delicious with the addition of another contrasting but complimentary flavour. Cut in half and topped with ratafia mixture they are easy to handle as a finger food and you can serve them just as they are or add a paper case.

Baked Black Figs Ratafia Gluten-free organic recipe

...or you can serve when just warm and top with a little cream and an almond.

Baked Figs Ratafia with Cream Gluten-free organic recipe

INGREDIENTS

Makes 20

10 figs (halved)

20 whole almonds or 10 if you want just to use halves! They actually look well on the plate as a mixture.

Cream (optional)
Paper cake cases (optional)

For the ratafia mix:

2oz (60g) Blanched Almonds
2oz raw cane sugar (60g) (rapadura)
¼ teaspoon of rose water
1 egg white

TEMPERATURES

Preheat the oven to 190°C or 375°F

METHOD

Pound the almonds with the rosewater. (Or you can buy ready-to-use powdered almonds aka almond meal).

Stir in the sugar.

Whisk the egg white until stiff and add it slowly to the almonds and sugar.

Keep folding in the egg white until you are sure it is thoroughly mixed.

Place the figs on a lightly buttered dish.

Baked Black Figs Ratafia Gluten-free organic appetiser recipe

Using a teaspoon, cooled in ice-cold water, drop a little amount of mixture onto the centre of each fig. Make it heaped towards the middle and away from the edges as this will allow room for expansion during cooking. At this point add the almonds to those you are intending to serve hot.

Place in oven on the middle shelf and cook for around 10-20 minutes or until the ratafia feels slightly firm to the touch. Check them at 5, 10 and 15 minutes to see how they are progressing! It will depend on how juicy the figs are as to how quickly they will cook.

Serve hot fresh from the oven, as they are or in a paper case.

Baked Figs Ratafia Gluten-free organic recipe

As mentioned above, I also like to serve them cold with a little raw cream and an almond.

Enjoy!

All that needs to be said now is Bon Appėtit!

Hope to see you here again for another recipe from my 100 Gluten-Free Organic Party Foods Challenge!

All the best,

Sue

Pages