Fresh fig custard with sweet basil, blue cheese and honey
Sweet sauces
I love fresh figs and whenever I eat them, I feel decadent. The first time I tasted a fresh fig I was in my twenties, going to Graduate school in Boston, and it was a revelation. Having grown up in Hawai`i, tropical exotics such as guava, lychee, mango and papaya were a part of my palate from childhood but fresh figs! The pale pink flesh of a Brown Turkey, with just a perfumy wisp of sweetness – I could not believe what I had been missing. Fresh figs became my struggling student market splurge. Years later, I tasted a fresh fig stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in basil. Another revelation as the subtle sweet fig contrasted with the clove-citrus notes of fresh sweet basil and the creamy tang of goat cheese. Using Mark Bittman’s custard recipe as a guide, this recipe developed out of my generally non-pastry baking nature to one up the fig and sweet basil combination by adding custard, blue cheese and honey (another taste revelation I experienced in my twenties, but that's another story). The result is a contrast of flavors and textures worth trying: Creamy, sweet, fig flecked custard, contrasted with citrus notes from the basil, a burst of salt from the blue cheese and a touch of floral from the honey. Note: I used six small ramekins to make individual custards, however one large one would also work. Adjust cooking time if you make one large one – it will take a bit longer.
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