I've been picking about 1kg of figs each day from my bank yard tree. I gave them away to neighbours, ate as many as I could fresh, cooked an unctuous kangaroo casserole with them, made cocktails out of them, I even tried freezing them (didn't like the mushy result). One day, I ate so many figs that I had a pretty bad stomach ache (hey, I now know where that line is. 26 figs is too much YMMV).
Finally, I had to resort to a conserve. I try to avoid conserves because of the vast quantity of sugar they demand. But, as far as effort goes, it is certainly the most accessible way to preserve fruit.
I have to thank Useful Knowledge (youtube) for the proportions and encouragement.
Yields about 4 litres of finished conserve. Make sure you have enough jars!
* 4 litres figs (measured in 2x2L yoghurt buckets. One was full of my frozen, halved figs, the other was overflowing with whole fresh figs.
* 1.5 litres sugar (measured, roughly, in same bucket)
* 1 litre water (ditto)
* 1 lemon, juice and skin (so use organic)
* 1 tsp tartaric acid (cream of tartar)
Optional: 3-4 vanilla pods/vanilla essence
Optional: 2-3 Tbsp butter. I prefer without. Butter carries the flavour nicely, but I can always add butter to the end dish without any flavour difference, and leaving it out makes this a good offering to the vegan gods.
Cut the stems off the fruit and cut off any rough/tough patches of skin.
Bring the water to the boil and dissolve the sugar.
Add the fruit, lemon juice, lemon peel and tartaric acid (and vanilla if desired).
Boil for 2 hours.
Test a little syrup on a cold plate - draw a line through the cold syrup. When it's ready, it should hold a line for 3-4 seconds.
Roast your bottles in a hot oven for 10 mins and pour boiling water over the lids/seals.
Ladel the figs into the jars and seal.
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