Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini)
Bulgaria's spoon sweet of small green figs — blanched twice to draw out their bitter milk, then simmered in syrup with lemon until glassy and whole, and served by the spoonful with a glass of cold water.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 kg small unripe green figs
- 1 kg sugar
- 500 ml water, plus more for blanching
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 vanilla pod, split
Nutrition (estimated)
high confidenceRecipe total: 4255 kcal · P 17.1g · C 1079.3g · F 3.3g
Estimated from 5 of 5 ingredients
Approximate estimate, calculated from the ingredients.
Steps
Steps
- 1Wear gloves: unripe figs ooze a sticky milk that irritates the skin. Trim the stems to 1 cm and prick each fig in two or three places with a toothpick.
- 2Cover the figs with plenty of water, bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, then drain. Repeat with fresh water. The double blanching removes the bitter latex and softens the skins.
- 3Leave the figs in cold water for an hour, changing it once, then drain them well.
- 4Dissolve the sugar in the 500 ml of water in a wide pan and boil for 5 minutes to a light syrup.
- 5Add the figs and simmer gently for 30 minutes, then take off the heat and leave covered overnight so the syrup soaks in and the figs stay whole.
- 6Next day, add the lemon juice and vanilla pod and simmer again for 30–40 minutes, until the figs are translucent and the syrup coats a spoon; a drop on a cold plate should hold its shape.
- 7Remove the vanilla pod, ladle the figs and syrup into hot sterilised jars, seal and turn them upside down to cool. They keep for a year in a cool cupboard.
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Questions and answers
How long does Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini) take to make?
About 170 minutes: 80 min prep and 90 min cooking.
What ingredients do you need for Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini)?
5 ingredients: small unripe green figs, sugar, water, lemon, vanilla pod.
How many servings does this Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini) recipe make?
20 servings. The servings buttons above the ingredients rescale every amount.
How many calories are in a serving of Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini)?
About 213 kcal, with 0.9 g protein, 54 g carbohydrate and 0.2 g fat. This is an estimate from the ingredients, not a lab analysis.
Which diets does this Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini) recipe suit?
It is vegan and gluten-free.
What cuisine is Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini)?
Green Fig Preserve (Sladko ot Smokini) comes from Bulgarian cuisine.
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