The end of the summer signals the end of fig season for us. Each year we’re surprised to find out how much fruit our tree will produce. Last year was a light harvest, but this year has been exceptional. With so much fruit, I needed to minimize sharing with the birds and learned how to decorate the tree with metallic ribbons. The crows, however, don’t scare easily and eat the high fruit we can’t reach. All is good.
Below is a photo of a recent harvest. Lots of folks are familiar with black mission figs, but our green figs are called calimyrna figs. They came from Turkey and were called Smyrna figs (after the ancient city). Just throw a “cal” on the front and they became California’s variety.
So after sharing with others, what do you do with all these figs? I’ve frozen some and made fig jam, fig muffins, fig bread and most recently, fig spice cake (pictured below). The cake is a real crowd pleaser especially when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
My husband has perfected a fig daiquiri recipe that he loves, but the texture and color don’t appeal to me. In fact, the only time I will eat figs raw is with a savory cracker and a slice of brie cheese. Some folks eat them whole in a couple of bites. I can’t even…
Last but not least, are you wondering if figs are healthy? Fresh figs are high in natural sugars, fiber, and minerals including potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper. They are also a good source of antioxidant vitamins A and K. Hooray for the mighty fig!
