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Fresh Fig Tart, Celebrating Local Figs
It’s been a remarkable season for figs. With no late frost
to destroy the early buds, and enough rain to keep the trees from self-pruning,
we – and the birds and even squirrels – have enjoyed many succulent fruits from
the “Brown Turkey” and the even more fig-flavored “Celeste” fig trees planted
near the restaurant and in our yard.
Not having a family recipe for fig tart, we turned to the recipe
for the wonderful rhubarb tart my wife Christina makes from the unapologetically
rich desert book, Rosie’s All-Butter Fresh Cream Sugar-Packed Baking Book, by
Judy Rosenberg. “Rosie” originally began baking professionally in Harvard
Square, Cambridge, MA, and probably kept the Massachusetts General Hospital’s
Cardiology Department prosperous.
Figs are sweet and mildly flavored, unlike the assertive
rhubarb, which I love and grew for years from plants my father started in my
hometown up north. So Christina marinated the cut figs, harvested today, in
lemon juice then cut back significantly on the sugar mixed into them.
Here’s the recipe for an 8-inch square or 9-inch tart,
enough to feed six to eight a fantastic, rich seasonal dessert. (And while we
haven’t tested it, this method should work also for the moist dried apricots
that come from Turkey, and possibly even pitted dates.)
The Base (a shortbread crust):
1 cup flour
5 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature,
cut into 8 pieces
1 egg white for glazing (use the yolk in the topping)
Topping:
3 cups halved fresh figs
Juice of one large lemon
1 whole egg plus the reserved yolk from glazing the base
3/8 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square
pan or a 9-inch pie pan.
Process the flour and confectioner’s sugar several seconds.
Add butter and process until dough comes together, 20 to 30 seconds. (Or do all
this in a bowl with a pastry knife.) Pat dough into the greased pan. Glaze the
crust with egg white by pouring the white on the dough and tipping pan from
side to side so the white coats the surface. Pour off the remainder of the egg
white.
Bake the base until golden, about 25 minutes. Cool base
completely (refrigerate to speed this up).
Prepare the topping. Mix the figs with lemon juice. In a
bowl mix together the egg, egg yolk, sugar, flour and salt. Add the figs with
their lemon juice.
Spread the fig mixture over the cooled, baked base. Bake the
tart until set and slightly golden, about 50 minutes.
Cool completely before cutting into squares or wedges.
