Figs Glorious Figs

     So today my daughter, a friend and I drove to a home about 30 minutes away to harvest figs from 20-30 trees. Yes, 20-30 trees.  

We really had no idea what to expect but we were prepared with our baskets and bags and little step ladders (ha). 

We arrived at a beautiful gated 2 1/2 acre estate and were let in by the gardener. Once we parked and got ourselves ready we had to locate these fig trees. 

We followed a path along the house and looked for that gardener again to see if he could direct us to our trees. We turned the corner and were taken back by all the beauty in this yard. Lush green lawn, and a beautiful pool surrounded by stately palm trees. A fun little tree house with a slide caught my eye as we oohed and aahed looking around. There are amazing water features and fountains, arbors, grapevines, and loads of fruit trees. Pomegranates, apricots, Korean pears, fuyu persimmons, figs and more! 

We proceeded to the fig trees and picked these little pouches of deliciousness until our baskets were almost too heavy to carry. 

This place is pretty much my dream home property...(except there was no livestock).  Someday I would love to have a B&B with a similar type property and be able to share it with others.  And, all the while I was dreaming about making this wonderful delicious fig & almond tart. 

I'm excited to say, many of these figs will be made into jam for my upcoming sale. But if you can get your hands on a few fresh figs, make this tart for someone you love,  you won't regret it! 

Fresh Fig & Almond Tart

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons ice water
• 3 1/2 ounces almond paste, at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 6 large or 12 small fresh figs, sliced, stems removed
• 1/4 cup apricot jam 

Directions

• Combine the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, lemon zest, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until blended. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, gradually add the water until moist clumps form. Turn the mixture out onto a work surface and form into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for 1 hour.
• In a clean food processor bowl, combine remaining sugar, almond paste, mascarpone cheese, vanilla extract, and honey. Blend until smooth.
• Position an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• On a large sheet of parchment paper, roll out the dough into an 11-inch circle. Transfer the dough to a large, heavy baking sheet. Spread the almond filling over the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Arrange the figs on top of the almond filling. Spoon the jam over the figs. Fold the dough border over the filling to form an 8-inch round, pleating the crust loosely and pinching to seal any cracks in the dough.
• Bake the tart until the crust is golden, about 40 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a rack to cool for 10 minutes, then slide a metal spatula under the crust to free the tart from the parchment. Transfer the tart to a platter and serve.