Fresh fig ice cream

y adoration for fresh figs is well documented. I've waxed on about it many times (I did a "fig" search and found more than 10 entries mentioning the joy that is figs) in the past here on the blog, and am always looking for ways to eat them while they are ever-so-briefly in season. I like them in salads and sandwiches, as well as appetizers and desserts; but truly, most times I am content to eat them just as they are--straight from whatever box they came home in.

But when you have aging, leftover figs, it makes sense to use them up in something baked or cooked. And so when I happened upon this recipe and knew we had some rather close-to-retirement figs in the house, it just made sense to whip it up, quick-like.

Fresh Fig Ice Cream Recipe
From David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop

2 lbs fresh figs (about 20)
½ cup of water
1 lemon, preferably unsprayed
¾ cup of sugar
1 cup of heavy cream
½ teaspoon of freshly squeezed, lemon juice, or more to taste

Remove the hard stem ends from the figs, then cut each fig into 8 pieces. Put the figs in a medium, nonreactive sauce pan with the water, and zest the lemon directly into the saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8-10 minutes until the figs are tender.

Remove the lid, add the sugar and continue to cook until it reaches a jam-like consistency. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Blend together with cream and lemon juice, chill in the fridge and then put in your ice cream maker per the manufacturer’s instructions.

Ma and I halved the recipe, since our fig supply was low; a trip to town tomorrow will fix that! And another amendment we made was that I ran the cooked mixture through the food processor really quick--even though it was jammy, I thought a quick mix would make for a smoother blend and I think that was a smart move.

While fresh and uncooked will always be my favorite way to enjoy figs, I can't argue with this option. Wouldn't dream of it. In fact, I'm already dreaming of variations... balsamic reduction added? With goat cheese? Maybe a little creme fraiche? A smidge of chocolate? Or how about some hazelnuts... I like to get as many of my food obsessions as possible in one bowl. Efficient, no?

And on a completely side note, Seth and Ma and I went for a walk today and saw a group of alpacas hanging out by the fence down the road. I think they are just the cutest. I was informed how expensive they are as pets (given that you can't ride them or make $$ off them other than breeding, I suppose, and they're rather large to take for a walk), and they got substantially less cute after that! Still, such sweet and gentle creatures. I guess these guys had been trimmed recently of their fur (hair?), and they looked quite spiff and cool in the sunshine.

Robby the alpaca, with Buttercup behind him.

Just pieces of Rudy in the front--he was moving too fast for my iPhone, with
Shogun and Buttercup and Robby.