Happy New Year, everyone! This year, I skipped on the mochi and baked these for the New Year’s day breakfast. It’s nothing special, save that the figs came from my landlord’s backyard. They gave me a jar of homemade fig jam for Christmas, which has become my favorite fig jam. It’s made with two simple ingredients: big and plumped organic Mission black figs and sugar. No pectin or any other preservatives is used. They also didn’t use much sugar, so that you can actually taste the natural sweetness from the figs.
I wanted to keep the flavor of not-so-sweet-but-still-figgy in these scones. So instead of adding sugar in the dough like a typical scone recipe, I used no sugar and used this fig jam. But because I like my scones to have a caramelized crispy top, I sprinkled some raw brown sugar on the top. It turned out that the scones weren’t sweet at all even with five tablespoons of jams. I ate it with more fig jam, just like how some people spread more butter on baked buttery scones.
It was quite wholesome. It still had the scone-desired, flaky, buttery texture, but the texture of whole wheat didn’t get defeated. The roughness and graininess was still there. Figs are also naturally high in fiber, so you could call these extra high fiber scones. Having something healthy for the first bite of the year made me feel good. But even though it’s a good start, I’m still not making any New Year resolutions (because I’m superstitious and I don’t want to jinx myself) but I hope we all stay healthy in 2011!
Those look delicious! I love your choice of ingredients.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Cheers,
Rosa
Wow!!!! Looks realy yummy, I love figs! Could you also post the recipe?
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Mmm these look so delish. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteYum, looks so good! I love the look of these scones. :)
ReplyDeleteScone perfection! Not a bad way to start 2011! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteUsing fig jam in lieu of sugar -- never thought to do that, but I'm definitely going to steal that idea in the future. Figs are one of my favorite fruits to put in scones, for their nutrition as well as that slight crunch from the seeds. Brings me back [vaguely] to my childhood affair with Fig Newtons!
ReplyDeleteCheers and happy New Year,
*Heather*
Oh these sound amazing, I just love figs and the fact that they are made with whole wheat just takes them to another level.
ReplyDeleteI love baking with whole wheat, too, and these scones sound yummy and inventive. Looking for ways to use less sugar appeals to me.. and adding fruit seems like a logical way tot do this. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDelete>Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThe outcome will vary depends on the sweetness of the fig jam, so please adjust the sweetness.
1 c whole wheat four
1 c AP flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/3 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 c buttermilk
6 Tbsp fig jam
1 Tbsp heavy cream
raw brown sugar for sprinkling
1) Preheat the oven to 375F.
2) Sift both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and mix well.
3) Add cold butter to the flour mixture and mix until it becomes coarse. (it's ok to keep the small lumps of butter in the mixture)
4) Add buttermilk and fig jam and gently mix until the mixture is just incorporated.
5) On lightly floured surface, gently shape the dough into a 1-1/2" thick rectangle. Cut the dough into 12 triangles.
6) Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper. Transfer the scones onto the baking sheet.
7) Brush the top with heavy cream and sprinkle some sugar.
8) Bake for about 15 min or until lightly browned.
9) Serve warm with more fig jam.
(makes 12 scones)
wait, really? your landlord has a fig tree?
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly how my Grandma makes fig jam from her tree, sometimes barely needing the sugar at all. Its perfection :)
ReplyDelete