Old Fashioned Fig Preserves

Grandpa's trees had so many figs this year and Pete loves fig preserves.  We went on a quest to find a good recipe, and we wound up combining several recipes.  While some recipes say to cook the figs for less than an hour, we found the figs had to cook at least two hours.  They were done when they thickened and became dark brown in color.

My Mom never water- bathed figs so we didn't either. We just filled the jars with the hot preserves and sealed them up; put them on the counter to cool and listened for them to seal.

I've always used a 1:1 ratio of figs and sugar.  However, a couple recipes use about half that amount of sugar.  I would like to try this next time.

We heated the sugar and water before adding the figs as directed in the Preserved Figs in Syrup recipe.

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Old Fashioned Fig Preserves

Prep Time:30 Min Cook Time:3 Hr

Yields 4

Ingredients

• 4 Cups whole figs
• 2 Cups sugar
• 4 Lemon slices, seeds removed (1 slice per jar)
• 3/4 to 1 Cup water
• 1 pinch salt

Instructions

• 1
  Rinse your figs in the sink really well and then drain. Remove the stems. Leave whole or cut in half–your choice.
• 2
  In a large, heavy pot, add all the above ingredients.
• 3
  Cook on low for about three hours, stirring occasionally so mixture does not stick or burn. DO NOT LEAVE POT UNATTENDED because burning happens quickly!
• 4
  Cook until very thick.
• 5
  Ladle hot preserves into hot, sterile jars, using canning funnel and oven mitt so you do not burn your hand.
• 6
  Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Preserves may be stored in fridge for up to one month without the bath.

Notes

• Yields 4 half-pint jars.

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Old Fashioned Fig Preserves

Ingredients:

5 pounds fresh figs

5 pounds sugar

1 cup water (1 to 1 1/2 cups)

Directions:

1.  Wash the figs, then trim off the stem ends.  Put the figs into a large pot and cover with the sugar.  Allow them to sit at room temperature for 3 hours or so.

2.  Heat the figs, water and the sugar, stirring constantly, over moderate heat.  Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat to high and bring to a hard boil.

3.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and gently boil for 40 minutes, stirring frequently.

4.  The preserves are done when the foam that has formed on the surface dissipates and the syrup coats the back of the spoon.  Ladle the figs and syrup into hot,sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.  Wipe the rims of the jars clean then place sterilized lids on top and screw on the rings.

5.  Put the filled jars into a canning pot and cover with water at least 2 inches over the jar tops.  Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes.  Use tongs to carefully remove the jars from the water; place on a kitchen towel.  Allow the jars to cool completely before moving them.

Fig Preserves

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Preserved Figs in Syrup

Directions:
1.  Wash figs and trim stems.

2.  Combine water and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.

3.  Reduce heat to medium-low and add figs.  Cook until turns a dark brown and thickens.

Preserved Figs in Syrup

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Fig Preserves (Emeril Lagasse)

Ingredients :
1 lb figs, washed and stemmed                      5 lbs figs
1 cup sugar                                                     5 cups sugar

In a medium saucepan, mix figs and sugar together and cook on low heat, uncovered, about 30 minutes.

If processing, pour hot preserves mixture into a hot sterile 1-qt or 2 (1 pint) glass canning jars, filling jar; seal jar with lid.  Put jar in water-bath canner and cover with hot water by 1 to 2 inches.  Process, covered, 5 minutes.   Store in a cook, dark place.

*I would add some water.

Fig Preserves

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5 lbs sugar = 10 cups

1 lbs sugar = 2 cups

Peanut Butter Cornflake Crunch Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

7 - 8 cups cornflakes (without added sugar)

Directions:

Cook syrup and sugar until it comes to a boil.  Stir constantly; do not overcook.

Remove from heat; add peanut butter and stir until smooth.  Pour mixture over cornflakes in a large bowl.  Mix until cereal in thoroughly coated.

Spread into a buttered 9 x 13 buttered pan and press down lightly with buttered hands.  Cool and cut into bars.

*Pour mixture out onto waxed paper.

Peanut Butter Cornflake Crunch Bars