White fig jam
Made from green-skinned figs with pale amber flesh. Honeyed, gentle and golden, with lemon to keep it bright.
Coming soon
From fig tree
to jar.
Notes on growing figs, picking them at their best, and turning late-summer harvests into small batches of jam. From a garden in Rockaway Park, New York.
Explore figs
What a fig is, how it grows, how to know it is ripe, and which variety to plant.
All about figs
- What is a fig? A hollow cluster of flowers, not a fruit in the ordinary sense.
- When is a fig ripe? The droop, the give, the drop of syrup at the eye.
- Fig varieties Skin, flesh, flavour and cold tolerance, side by side.
- A short history of figs One of the first plants people cultivated, and how it got to Queens.
- Breba crop and main crop Why some trees fruit twice, and what that means for pruning.
From fig to jar
Nine steps, in order. Each one has a page of its own in the jam section.
How fig jam is made-
Harvest
Pick in the morning, only what droops and gives.
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Sort
Ripe for the pan, split ones first, anything sour out.
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Wash
A brief rinse, then dry. Trim the stem tips.
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Prepare
Halve or chop. Skins stay on for colour.
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Cook
Figs, sugar and lemon in a wide pan at a brisk boil.
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Test
A spoonful on a cold plate. It should wrinkle.
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Jar
Hot jam into hot jars, headspace measured.
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Preserve
Processed by a tested recipe, or straight to the fridge.
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Enjoy
Toast first. Then cheese. Then everything else.
Our fig jams
Three jams from the same trees. Green figs, dark figs, and the days the basket holds both.
About the shop
Dark fig jam
Purple-skinned figs cooked with their skins for a deep, berry-rich jam the colour of the fruit itself.
Coming soon
Mixed fig jam
Whatever ripened that morning, green and purple together. The everyday jar, and the one that tastes most like the…
Coming soon
We are not selling yet. The shop opens once New York food-sales requirements are in place; the newsletter will say when.
Recipes
Ways to use a jar of fig jam and a basket of fresh figs.
All recipes
Breakfast
Fig jam toast
Good bread, salted butter, a thick layer of fig jam. The point of having jam in the house, and a way to taste…
Cheese and charcuterie
Fig jam and goat cheese crostini
Crisp slices of baguette, soft goat cheese, a spoon of fig jam and a few leaves of thyme. The easiest thing…
Cheese and charcuterie
Fig jam baked brie
A whole brie warmed until it just yields, topped with fig jam and toasted walnuts. Ten minutes of work for…
Sauces and glazes
Fig jam glaze for pork or chicken
Fig jam loosened with vinegar, mustard and a little soy, brushed on in the last minutes of roasting. Sticky…
Baking
Fresh fig tart
Halved figs on a thin layer of almond cream in a shortcrust shell, baked until the fruit slumps and…
Savoury
Fig, prosciutto and rocket salad
Torn figs, ribbons of prosciutto, peppery leaves, shaved parmesan and a dressing sharpened with a spoon of…
Savoury
Fig, gorgonzola and onion pizza
A white pizza with slow-cooked onions, blue cheese and sliced figs, finished with rocket. Sweet, salty and a…
Baking
Fig and olive oil cake
A tender olive oil cake with fresh figs pressed into the top. Not too sweet, and better on the second day.
Fig variety explorer
Six varieties we grow or cook with, compared. More are added as we learn them.
All varieties| Variety | Skin | Flesh | Flavour | Sweetness | Season | Cold | Jam |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Mission | Purple-black | Deep strawberry pink | Rich, sweet, concentrated, slightly winey when fully ripe | Breba in early summer, main crop late summer into autumn | |||
| Brown Turkey | Brownish purple | Amber to pale pink | Mild, sweet, low acidity | Breba in early summer, main crop late summer | |||
| Celeste | Violet-brown | Rosy amber | Very sweet, clean, gentle | Main crop mid to late summer | |||
| Chicago Hardy | Purple to deep mahogany | Strawberry red | Sweet, berry-forward, light tartness at the skin | Main crop from late summer into autumn | |||
| Kadota | Yellow-green | Amber | Mild, honeyed, low acidity | Main crop late summer | |||
| White Adriatic | Pale green | Strawberry red | Bright, berry-like, noticeably tart for a fig | Main crop late summer |
No varieties match that filter yet.
A few trees, a wide pan, and a short season
FigsJam began with fig trees in a Rockaway Park garden, a few blocks from the Atlantic, and the problem every fig grower has in September: more ripe fruit than anyone can eat. Jam was the answer, and small batches were the only kind a home kitchen can make.
This site is where we keep what we have learned about the trees, the fruit and the jars, and where the jam will eventually be sold.
About FigsJam