My fig crop: spelt testing, episode II

I had a record "crop" of figs off one of my trees this year, but it was less than 20 figs in total, and the other tree still hasn't produced anything. The good news is that the figs, though small, are really tasty, much sweeter and more flavorful than the fresh California figs I bought at Trader Joe's this morning. I'm hoping some timely, strategic pruning will up my haul significantly next year. I got some advice Uncle Bob passed along from his arborist, and Mom and I both listened carefully to what Daniel had to say yesterday at the City Market (he said he's been pulling them by the quart off his trees for weeks; I'm so jealous).

A big chunk of my fig "crop"

 

Before we went to the City Market, Mom met me on the Downtown Mall, where I was having breakfast with quite a few of my running buddies (many of whom had two-syllable names: Rol●lin, Bri●an, Ker●ry, Char●lie; so there). I knew we were in trouble when I saw Mom strolling down the Mall in her "FSU Mom" t-shirt. We hadn't coordinated, but I was wearing my "FSU Dad" t-shirt and had already taken a raft of shit from Tom S. about it. Sure enough, when he saw both of us sitting together in our matching t-shirts, he couldn't help but treat us through the remainder of breakfast to his rendition of the FSU tomahawk chop and war chant. Tom had the war chant completely wrong, which takes some doing, but of course he didn't let that stop him.

My meager fig crop obviously wasn't enough to make the fig bars below, but they did give me the idea. As it turns out, I think the bars will be better with a stronger-flavored, and more vividly-colored, type of fruit preserves, like cherry or apricot, which I've noted in the recipe below. Despite the subtitle of this episode, you can make both recipes with regular flour and they'll come out fine, so don't pass just because of that. And yes, I know this is already banana bread #4, but this is the last one, I swear. I wouldn't have written it up, but I like how simple it is. No spices, just lots of banana flavor and a good texture. I'm probably going with this one more often than not from now on.

The Last Banana Bread

Adapted from Angela Hartnett via The Daily Mail

Time: 1:05 to when the bread is removed from the pan

You can grind the nuts coarsely in a food processor (a few pulses), or with a mortar and pestle, or you can put them in a plastic bag and whack them a bit with the bottom of a heavy skillet or a meat pounder. You can use all-purpose flour or a combination of all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour instead of spelt flour.

Dry ingredients
130 grams whole grain spelt flour; or 75 whole grain spelt flour + 55 grams white spelt flour (see note)
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
70 grams ground pecans or walnuts (see note)

Wet ingredients
227 grams peeled banana, from 2 medium, ripe bananas
130 grams (⅔ cup) light brown sugar
2 eggs
25 grams (~2 tablespoons) butter, melted

    1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a one-pound (8½-by-4½-inch) loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
    2. In a small bowl, whisk together the spelt flours, salt, baking soda, and ground walnuts.
    3. In a large bowl, mash the bananas well. You should have 1 cup mashed banana. Whisk in the sugar and eggs until well blended. Dump in the dry ingredients and stir just until nearly blended. Stir in the melted butter, then scrape the wet batter into the prepared loaf pan.
    4. Bake until the bread is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 40 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should  register around 190°F when the bread is baked through. The bread will not rise much because there is so little leavening.
    5. Let the bread cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, for several days.

Spelt and Oat Jam Bars

Adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

You can also make this with all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, or a mix of all-purpose and whole-wheat flour. The original recipe calls for 1 tablespoon cinnamon, which would be overpowering. I cut that in half and used 1½ teaspoons, and you still get a strong cinnamon flavor. If you’re not a big fan of cinnamon, I’d take it down to 1 teaspoon. I love figs, but the fig preserves were underwhelming. I think something with a stronger visual and flavor profile, like apricot or cherry preserves, would be better here.

Dry ingredients
155 grams (1¼ cups) whole grain spelt flour (see note)
175 grams (1¾ cups) rolled oats, divided
1 to 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon (see note)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Wet ingredients
150 grams (¾ cup) brown sugar
113 grams (½ cup) applesauce
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract, optional

25 grams (2 tablespoons) butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
225 grams (~⅔ cup) fig or other fruit preserves (see note)

    1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
    2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
    3. In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, applesauce, egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract, if using.
    4. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir to combine. Press two-thirds of the mixture into the pan. Spread the preserves evenly over the bottom layer.
    5. Stir the remaining 25 grams (¼ cup) of the oats into the remaining one-third of the batter. Add the butter pieces, and cut in with a fork or a pastry blender. Scatter pieces of the batter by the tablespoonful over the preserve layer.
    6. Bake until risen some and the top feels firm and maybe a bit crispy, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 12 bars.