FIG & CARDAMOM JAM

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The real drama happens in the pastry kitchen – George, our Head Baker, and Julia, our Exec Chef, will be checking the prices, waiting for them to come down a bit so that the real project of September can start in earnest – making enough of our black bursa fig and cardamom jam to last until Christmas, something we rarely succeed in.

Makes about 2.5kg or 6–7 small jars

Takes about 45 minutes

2kg black figs
1.35kg caster sugar
1 whole orange
1 vanilla pod (or 2 de-seeded pods)
8 cardamom pods

For the best results use ripe soft figs. If you use dry thick-skinned ones you will end up with a leathery jam. Remove the tip of each fig and cut into quarters (if they are really soft you can just tear them in half). Place the figs in a large jam pan and add the sugar. Use a peeler to create wide strips of orange peel, then halve the orange and juice it. Put the strips and juice in the pan. Slit the vanilla pod in half and add as well. Finally, crack open the cardamom pods and place the cracked pods in the pan. Mix everything together to moisten – I get my hands in there and squash the fruit (use disposable gloves if you have them).

Now set on a very high heat and bring to the boil. Make sure to stir quite often until the first bubbles start to appear – there is a real chance of it burning at this early stage since this is a heavy fruit that takes a while to produce liquid. Once the first bubbles appear, remove the initial foam, and reduce the temperature until the jam is at a medium boil. Make sure to stir on a regular basis so the jam doesn’t burn and continue skimming the foam that accumulates on top. This jam really doesn’t take long to cook when using ripe figs: 30–40 minutes will achieve a thick gloopy texture with a deep coloured syrup and pieces of fruit still visible... and that is exactly the way I like it. Check the jam and when it’s ready, transfer to sterilised jars.