I'll admit I have a bit of a sweet tooth. I try really hard to fulfill the “sweetness” I desire with fruit, smoothies and other healthier options. At times though, I just need a little nibble of something chocolatey. Sometimes it’s a square of really nice dark chocolate, sometimes it’s a chocolate chip cookie and now, after making this recipe, it will be a chocolate dipped fig!
The first time I ever picked a fig, fresh from a tree, and ate it was in Turkey. Myself and some friends had been travelling along the west coast and stopped in a little village to purchase some bread and cheese for lunch. There was a man selling fresh figs outside his home. We got to talking (as best we could, as our Turkish was not great) and he invited us into his property to see his orchard of fruit trees. Tasting the figs fresh from his tree was like a flavour bomb going off in your mouth. They were so sweet, juicy and plump. The intensity of the bright pink colour inside the fig was amazing – I’ve never seen colour in a fig like that since.
Here in Canada, fig season is pretty short-lived, falling sometime in the summer. During the fig season, you can find a mix of Mission Figs (the deep purple/black coloured figs) and Turkish Figs (green outsides). During the rest of the year, some imported Mission Figs can be found around the holidays and Valentine’s Day.
I recently came across the idea of dipping figs in chocolate as I was searching for unique ingredients and fruit recipes to freshen up my charcuterie boards (Valentine's Sweet & Savoury Board info is here). My goal for the board was to include both savoury and sweet treat options. These figs are definitely the sweet option.
I think what grounds this Salted Dark Chocolate Fig recipe is the final sprinkling of flaky Maldon Salt on the chocolate. You don't need a lot of salt, only a few crystals. The bittersweet of the dark chocolate and savoury from the salt totally compliment each other.
So whether you want these figs for a snack, sweet treat or as part of a charcuterie board - they won't be around long, as you can't eat just one.
Enjoy,
Krista
Salted Dark Chocolate Figs
Makes 12-20 (this is a gauge, make as many or as few as you need)
Ingredients
6-10 fresh figs, slice in half (I used Black Mission Figs)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks
1 tablespoon coconut oil (optional, see Recipe Note below)*
Maldon Salt
Method
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl. Starting with 30 seconds on medium temperature, heat bowl. Stir. If chocolate is not melted, begin heating in 15 second increments, stirring in between, until mixture is smooth with no lumps remaining. Do not over cook, as chocolate will become solid.
One at a time, dip the bottom half of the sliced half in chocolate. Shake to knock off excess chocolate. Place fig cut side up on baking sheet and drizzle chocolate with a few flakes of Maldon Salt.
Continue with remaining fig halves.
Place baking sheet into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to harden.
If not using dipped figs immediately, store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days maximum.
Recipe Notes:
* Coconut Oil helps chocolate to harden after it's been melted. It usually reduces the refrigerator "set" time by half. If you don't have coconut oil or don't like the flavour, omit it from the recipe and increase the refrigeration time by 30 minutes (test after 1 hour in total - it might take longer).
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