Fresh fig and walnut pudding from Campania
Well, I say Campania, because I was in Salerno when the idea came into my head, but it’s not exactly traditional…
I had a load of fresh figs in my fridge because my green grocer knows I love figs and the season is almost at an end. However, they were in all honesty a little too ripe to eat alone or raw and wrapped in a piece of parma ham the way I usually do (yum!) so I wondered what I could use them for – I really do not like throwing out food, especially something as yummy as figs!
Thus was born the mighty fresh fig and walnut pudding!
I have a confession to make… this was supposed to be a cake, and in fact a pretty much followed the recipe for banana and walnut cake which I am a master at, subbing the figs in place of the bananas. Silly old me didn’t think for a moment about how much more water there is in figs than bananas, especially in overripe figs… Despite this minor mishap, the cake pudding turned out to be delicious and even got the… ITALIAN MOTHER IN LAW SEAL OF APPROVAL!
Phew.
You will need:
A bowl of fresh figs (with the tips cut off)
250g of butter
one mug of caster sugar
one desert spoon of brown sugar
shelled walnuts ( as many or as few as you wish)
2 mugs of flour
100ml of milk
2 large eggs
3 tsps baking powder
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (Electric fan)
2. Slice off a chunk of the butter and place in the baking tin over a low flame until the butter melts. Add the brown sugar, stir briefly and take the tin off the heat.
3. Slice about half of the figs in half half and line the bottom of the tray, flesh side up.
4. Melt the rest of the butter in a pan, and pour into a bowl with the other figs and the sugar. Mash together.
5. Sift in the flour and the baking powder, and stir well.
6. Beat the eggs until fluffy, and add the eggs and milk to the mix. Stir well, adding more flour or milk to get the right consistency.
7. Pour mixture over the figs and place in the oven for 40 minutes to an hour, until the result is a dark golden brown, sticky sponge.
Enjoy after dinner with a nice digestivo. Rum goes rather well in this case you’ll find…
Alternatively, go British and make custard. Why the heck not…
With love, from Italy
lovefromitaly 
Delicious!!
It was! Going to try it with less figs next time, see if I get a cake instead of pudding 🙂
Reblogged this on The Italian South and commented:
Following my recent theme of fig things, here is a recipe that has great appeal to me. I only I still had some fresh figs!! (You can see why I don’t in my earlier post.)
Looks fantastic! But in my climate, I lost my late crop of figs, so will just have to drool until I see some for sale or until next summer when I get my own again.
Aw, I saw your fig post… boooooooo… well just remember it and you can make it next year and let me know how it turns out. I love your blog by the way, it truly portrays the insanity that is this country – i love Italy, but it drives me bonkers!
Wonderful Blog. I’m a big fan of fresh figs, adding walnuts to them can only do them good. Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks 🙂