Michelle Darmody: How to bake your own Fig Rolls at home

They will last for four days in an airtight container in a cool place. They can be frozen in a sealed container or freezer bag.

Fig Cookies with fruits on wooden surface. Organic Food.

I love these biscuits which are stuffed with sticky figs all deliciously encased in crisp, slightly spiced biscuit dough.

Figs are unusual, with a strange way of reproducing. Today most figs are bred to ripen without intervention from a fig wasp, but wild varieties still rely on an ancient symbiotic relationship. The tiny wasp has helped the plant to survive, but often pays a price. What we think of as a fig is, in fact, an inverted flower, rather than a fruit. Like all flowers, it needs pollen to pollinate it. A wild fig tree produces both male and female fig flowers. If the insect finds a male flower in which to lay her eggs, it does not ripen into an edible ‘fruit’ but becomes the perfect place for her babies to grow.

But, if the wasp crawls into a female fig flower by mistake she cannot get back out, and she carries with her the precious pollen that allows that fig to swell and ripen. This fig will then produce a special enzyme which breaks down the insect’s body into proteins that get absorbed by the plant.

Modern varieties of the Ficus or fig tree do not rely on this mutual relationship. They grow throughout the Mediterranean region and their bounty is either shipped to our shores fresh, or, dehydrated to various degrees.

Dried figs are very different in texture and flavour to their fresh, tear drop shaped, counterparts. You can find two different types of dried fig, the first is very dry and shriveled, with a chewy texture. The second is softer and quite plump, and is the variety I tend to use in this recipe.

The softer semi dried figs often still have the tough, woody stems attached. Remove these before weighing the number of figs you need.

If your dough turns out crumbly, the best thing is to knead it slightly rather than adding any more liquid. Kneading it will soften the butter which will help to bind the other ingredients together.

As this is quite a crumbly dough it is good not to add too much extra flour to your work surface when rolling it out. I find rolling it between two sheets of parchment can help with this.

A sharp knife dipped into warm water makes the cleanest cut, when slicing the rolls into biscuits. If you find the filling leaks as it bakes out there is another method you can try next time. You can bake the sausage shapes whole and cut the biscuits once removed from the oven and still warm. I find this can give a more jagged edge but it is good for holding the filling inside.

Making sure the figgy mixture has reduced enough and is thick and sticky will also help prevent it leaking out from the dough.

Ensure the filling is completely cooled before placing it on the rectangle of rolled dough. This will not only help to prevent it from spreading but will ensure a crisper biscuit.

To seal the slit with a fork, press it gently so that both sides of the dough are tightly sealed together. The warm water helps with this by softening the dough.

Placing the biscuits seam-side down on your baking tray helps them to stay sealed.

Homemade fig rolls

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

These fig rolls used to be made as quite a tasty health food by medieval physicians.

Servings

14

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• For the biscuit:

• 140g plain flour

• 80g brown flour

• ½ tsp mixed cake spice

• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

• 40g golden caster sugar

• 140g cold butter, cubed

• 1 egg yolk (from a large egg)

• For the fig filling:

• 300g dried figs, the softer kind, chopped

• 150mls water

• 40g golden caster sugar

• zest and juice 1 orange

Method

1. 1. To make the biscuit, add the spices, sugar and salt to both of the flours, stir them together.

2. 2. Add in the cubes of butter and rub them into the flour mixture until it looks like rough breadcrumbs.

3. 3. Add the egg yolk and bring the biscuit dough together with your hands until it forms a ball of dough.

4. 4. Wrap the dough in baking parchment and place into your fridge to firm up for at least an hour.

5. 5. Add the chopped figs, water, caster sugar and the orange juice and zest to a saucepan and gently heat until bubbling.

6. 6. Allow to simmer for about ten minutes until reduced and sticky.

7. 7. Set aside to cool, then blitz it into a paste.

8. 8. Preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4.

9. 9. Line a large flat baking tray with parchment.

10. 10. Knead the dough lightly to soften it up for rolling so it is not too crumbly.

11. 11. Roll the dough into a large rectangle about 25 x 20cm and then cut this lengthwise into two rectangles which are about 25 x 10 cm each.

12. 12. Add the cold filling down one side of one of the long rectangles as you would if you were making sausage rolls.

13. 13. Brush the edges of the dough with warm water where you will be sealing it.

14. 14. Fold the dough over and seal the slit with a fork so it is well stuck together.

15. 15. Repeat with the second rectangle.

16. 16. Cut the long sausages into about seven biscuits each.

17. 17. Place the biscuits onto the tray with the sealed side down. Leave room between each biscuit as they will expand slightly as they bake.

18. 18. Place the baking tray into the centre of your oven.

19. 19. Bake for 20 minutes until the biscuit is golden.

20. 20. Allow to sit until cool enough to handle, then place onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Three delicious variations

Mixed fruit and cinnamon rolls

You can make this version with a mixture of raisins, apricots, dates, or prunes in place of the 300g of dates. Treat them in the same way but with half of the water. You can add a little more if needed.

I usually add a cinnamon stick when stewing the fruit to add depth of flavour. You can remove it just before blitzing the mixture. If you don’t have a cinnamon stick, add half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the mixture in the liquidiser.

Date rolls

You can use dates in place of the figs. I always tend to veer towards Medjool dates but you can use any variety you wish, just stew and blitz them in the same way you would the figs. Dates can be quite a bit sweeter than figs so in place of the orange juice and zest I would use lemon.

Fig and ginger rolls

When you are blitzing the stewed figs, you can add about 20g of preserved stem ginger to your liquidiser.

It is a small addition to the recipe but it will make quite different biscuits than if you are using figs alone.