Oh summer, summer. How do I love thee? Let me count the fruits….nectarines, peaches, mangoes, strawberries and more rarely, fresh figs.

These figs were procured from our local Growers Market. (Hard to reign yourself in whilst perusing all the fantastic produce that abounds). They sat in the fridge, shouting things like ‘eat us now’, and ‘stuff us with Gorgonzola, wrap in prosciutto and bake us!’ Little did they know, I had other plans for those plump little purple beauties.

One of my fave lazy dinner party desserts perchances to be baked figs. Peaches and nectarines are also delicious when given this same treatment.

It’s a lovely light ending to a dinner party and one that can be prepared earlier in the day. Just refrigerate until you are ready to bake.

When it comes to the liqueur, go wild. My usual choice is a liqueur muscat or tokay. In lieu of that tonight, I chose a cheeky Smoked Malt Whisky Tawny. An amazing port made in the same barrel that once housed a famous malt whiskey. If you choose to go alcohol free, you can drizzle some freshly squeezed orange juice over the figs.

No dinner party guests in the Cheergerm and Yak household tonight, just a greedy mama and papa chowing down on a Saturday night dessert that feels slightly decadent. There was a slight ‘peatyness’ from the port which went beautifully with the natural woody sweetness of the figs.

Now, if I was a food stylist or something more than a very amateur photographer, I am sure I could have made the final baked fig dish look gorgeous. All I can say is, they taste bloody beautiful. In real life they look earthy and delicious, despite the average photo below that scarily resembles something from John Wyndham’s The Triffids.

BAKED FIGGY FIGS

8 – 10 fresh figs (usually 4 – 5 figs per person)
50g butter
1-2 tsps coconut sugar or brown sugar
A dram of your fave liqueur

Place enough foil on a tray to hold and enclose the figs.
Slice a cross vertically into each fig without cutting through the whole fig.
Divide the butter into small pieces, pop a piece into the cut in each fig.
Sprinkle the sugar on top of each fig.
Pour a wee bit of liqueur over each fig, not too much, just a dribble.
Close the foil into a parcel around the figs.
Bake at 180C for 20 minutes until the figs are soft and starting to collapse.
Serve the figs, sharing out any leftover juices over the figs.
I served this with Greek breakfast yoghurt, it’s equally delish with honeyed marscarpone or double cream.

Note: don’t ever leave foil parcels on an induction cooking top when you are using it. Just saying is all…..