Cooking with figs again this weekend. This time, little wild figs from Iran, which I picked up from a local fruit and veg shop. This batch features closed fruit, but you can also get them split, revealing their pretty pink interiors. In the dried form, they are hard – less fleshy than their larger dried counterparts. When poached, they puff up slightly and, depending on how long you poach them for, can be sultry and soft, or slightly chewy, just the way I like them, as an accompaniment to scoops of vanilla ice-cream or dollops of sweetened yogurt.

Rather puzzlingly, it’s not often you find these wild figs being utilised. In restaurants, they rarely rate a mention. So far, I’ve only seen them making guest appearances in delicious Whisk & Pin muesli. One could almost say that they’ve already had their moment in the (Persian) sun, and require no further trumpeting of their virtues. Oh well, more for me, I say.

Here I have poached the figs following a Chez Panisse recipe. Gently spiced, so as to not be overpowering, I hope to serve these alongside an orange creme caramel (the orange in the creme being echoed by the peel in the poaching liquid for the figs).

Poached Spiced Figs :

1 1/2 cups fruity red wine
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons sugar (I used a little less than this)
strip of orange zest
6 peppercorns
1 whole clove
2 allspice berries
225g dried figs

Bring all the ingredients but the figs to a simmer in a non-corroding saucepan. Add the figs and cook them at a very slight simmer until they are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife. This will take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 12 hours, depending entirely on the figs. Remove the figs to a container with a slotted spoon, raise the heat, bring the syrup to a boil, and reduce by one-third. Pour it over the figs and chill. They will keep for one to two weeks and will benefit from sitting in their syrup for a few days.

This week’s WHB is hosted by Chef Melissa of Cooking Diva.

Hurrah. It’s finally August. In twenty days, we’ll be eating at Oscillate Wildly. In two days, I’ll be making biscuits for Jimmy Barnes. Barnsey’s Biccies.

It was Sandwich-City at work today, as the guys had a large function to cater for : 400+ sandwiches, which took them several hours to complete. At the end of it, I rather cheekily asked an exhausted looking P if he would make me a sandwich. He didn’t take to it too well. Heh. Heh. Heh. Don’t know what he’s complaining about though; I was in a Tart World Of Pain all on my own. Soon I’ll be happy if I never have to cut another diamond shaped tart ever again.

Meanwhile, I’m still very into all cakes big and small, and cake decorating. Alan Richman once said, “I am thankful for muffins, because their acceptance has made it permissible for us to eat cake for breakfast”. Well, I’m thankful for cupcakes, because that just gives me an excuse to eat more icing than I should. Cupcakes are nothing without the icing (and icing is nothing without a bit of cupcake stuck to it, to temper the sweetness a little). My current favourite icing is a vanilla and lemon cream cheese number, that goes quite well with a whole range of flavours. When I was growing up, cupcakes were nothing more than a little bit of cake in patty pan paper, with a glace cherry stuck firmly in the middle of the batter. Pretty boring, but enjoyable all the same.

I told D, who is engaged, to hurry and get married so that I can have a go at decorating a full tilt wedding cake. He says, probably next year in March or April, and that he’ll probably have to come into my cake shop by then.

Ha.

There’s this common assumption people make; that if you cook, you will eventually want to start your own business. My aunt and uncle have been asking me this question for years. I’m not entirely sure why, as they haven’t seen much of what I’ve made, let alone tasted it, because they are both diabetic. They seem to just trust that what I do will be good (and I love them for it). But trust is like a grizzly bear with shifty eyes, standing in a dark corner of the room, pointing a glazed bear claw at you. I fear trust.

—

B is back.

Me : Did you give off gas?
Him: Hm. Why?
Me :It doesn’t smell so fresh in here.
Him: Must be me then. Me and my misbehaving bowels.
Me : That sounds like a country & western song. How does it go again?
Him: Parp.

When I think about the food of my childhood, the things that come immediately to mind are : Apples, Kraft singles, sour plums, red bean ice-cream and grape flavoured chewing gum. Not many of those I would love to see in a muffin, so apples it is.

Apples used to be my favourite fruit. I would eat at least one a day (though it never did keep the Dr. away), savouring each bite and whittling the fruit down to the barest minimum of core. I also loved hot apple pies, crumbles, green apple lollies and clear apple juice. Apple pie a la mode became my staple dessert during weekend family dinners at the Lake Club. As a child, dinner was always a means to gain access to dessert. So down the hatchet went the cheese burger and fries, and hello, apple pie a la mode!

This Caramel Apple Crumble Muffin is my paean to these memories. The apples are chopped and cooked gently in a mixture of butter and brown sugar until they are caramelly (but not too sweet) and tender, then folded through an aromatic muffin mix and topped with crumble that bakes to a wonderful crisp in the oven.

The original recipe (for blueberry muffins) comes from Sue Lawrence, a Scottish cook and food writer. Funnily enough, she got and adapted this recipe from an Australian chef! This in turn, is my adaptation of her recipe. You could even have it as a dessert with some ice-cream: muffin a la mode.

Caramel Apple Crumble Muffins :
(makes 6 standard sized muffins)

100g unsalted butter, softened
100g brown sugar
1 large free-range egg
140g plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
50ml (1/4 cup) milk
150g caramel cooked apples (2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored, chopped into roughly 1cm dice and cooked in brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter until caramelised and tender)

For the crumble topping:
70g plain flour
40g demerara sugar
40g unsalted butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 190’C. Place 6 muffin cases in a muffin tin.

Cream the butter for 1-2 minutes then gradually add the sugar. Cream until pale, then beat in the egg. Sift in the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt, then stir in the milk. Gently fold in the cooled caramel apple dice. Fill the muffin cases with this mixture.

To make the crumble, place the flour in a bowl, then stir in the sugar. Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. (I like my crumble chunky, so I squeeze some of the mixture together to form larger lumps) Top each muffin with some crumble mixture, pressing down gently.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and risen. Remove to a wire rack and eat warm or at room temperature.

This Muffin Monday Roundup #5 is hosted by Wonder Sophie of Wonder Blog.