Fig butter is a sweet spread made from figs, either by cooking and condensing them into a paste or by combining fig preserves and butter. It can be canned and stored for months or refrigerated for a shorter shelf life. Figs are difficult to find outside of areas where they grow naturally, making fig butter a popular alternative.
Fig butter is a rich, sweet spread made from figs. One variety is a true fruit butter and is made by cooking and condensing figs into a rich paste. A second variety of fig butter is much simpler and is made by combining fig preserves and butter or a butter substitute. Both varieties can perform the same culinary functions as a traditional fruit butter. The fruit butter variety is commonly available for purchase in larger stores.
People all over the world appreciate the sweet taste of fresh figs. These fruits are known to travel poorly, however, and fresh figs are rarely available outside of areas where figs grow naturally. Also, figs are typically very hard to find during the time of year when the trees aren’t bearing fruit, as the fruit also doesn’t keep for long.
Many fruits don’t travel well. Historically, fruit preserves were primarily used to ensure a constant supply of nutritious and flavorful fruit products during times of the year when they were not locally available. Fruit preserves, including fruit butters, rely on the cooking and canning processes to first sterilize and then protect the fresh fruit. The cooking process kills all the microbes in fresh fruit, as well as making fresh fruit much easier to store. The silting then prevents any new microbes from entering the fruit and causing decay.
Creating this type of fig butter is similar to making any other traditional fruit butter. This recipe generally involves cooking the figs at a low temperature for two or more hours, until they are completely softened. Typically a small amount of additional liquid is also added, to help spread the resulting butter. Spices, such as cloves or cinnamon, can be added as desired. The cooked figs are then mashed or made into a buttery paste.
Once a batch of fig butter has been cooked and processed, it is typically canned. The fig butter is placed in jars so that there is no empty space. These jars are sealed and a hot water bath is used to kill any remaining bacteria. At the end of this process, the fig butter is stable for months or years.
Another variety of fig butter is made by mixing plain butter or a butter substitute with preserved figs. Butter and honey are often mixed in this way, and the sweetness of preserved figs pairs just as well with rich, salty butter as the more traditional honey. This variety of fig butter should be refrigerated and has a rather short shelf life.
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