Mom’s Whole Wheat Biscuit with Spiced Fig Butter

My mom’s biscuit was probably not yo’ mama’s biscuit… no AP flour, no shortening or butter, no flaky layers, no poppin’ tube. No, hers was a whole wheat biscuit, made about as healthy as one can make a biscuit, with whole meal flour and unsaturated vegetable oil. Not my childhood favorite, but it’s the biscuit I wanted when I whipped up some Spiced Fig Butter this morning. On the farm, we often piled deliciously spicy apple butter on those wheaty biscuits. And suddenly I’m rooting through my recipe box for that weathered recipe written in her hand.  

The fickle fig has returned this year, following its non-appearance last summer. Figs seem to be a feast or famine fruit; there either are none, or I’m drowning in them. And due to their short shelf life, they must be eaten quickly or preserved in some fashion. Thus far, they’ve been eaten out of hand, frozen into fro-yo, roasted savory style with onions and fennel and simmered into today’s fruit butter. 

Fruit butters are different from jams and jellies. Smooth, less sweet spreads that glide over a biscuit or slice of toast like butter.  The fruit is lightly sweetened and cooked to sauce consistency. Spices are added, and the sauce is simmered to reduce, caramelize the sugars and concentrate.  Finally the mixture is blended to that smooth buttery consistency. Apple butter is probably the best known fruit butter, which takes long slow watchful cooking. Having made it many times, I was surprised how quickly and easily the fig butter came together. Figs are soft fruits which cook down into sauce and concentrate into fruit butter very quickly. They are also natural partners for the flavors of port, honey and warm spices. 

This fig butter has remarkable versatility. While I’m showcasing it on biscuits, it’s delicious stirred into yogurt, oatmeal or chia pudding. I suspect it would be an enthusiastic member of a charcuterie board, or as a side to savory roasted dishes. I’m going to run out before I exhaust its many applications… time to search out more figs!