Honey-Roasted Figs with Fromage Frais

📝 Ingredients

• 8 fresh figs (about 50 g each)
• 3 tbsp honey (2 for the figs, 1 for the fromage frais)
• ½ orange (juice)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 10 g unsalted butter
• 500 g fromage frais
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 40 g walnut halves

🍴 Utensils

• Ovenproof dish
• Small frying pan
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Paring knife

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Gently wash the figs, dry them and trim just the tip of the stalk. Choose figs that are nice and ripe but still firm to the touch, so they hold their shape during cooking.
2. Cut a cross into each fig from the top, about two-thirds of the way down, without cutting through the base. Gently squeeze the bottom of the fig between two fingers so it opens like a flower.
3. Stand the figs upright, snugly packed, in the ovenproof dish. Mix 2 tbsp honey with the orange juice and cinnamon, then pour this syrup into the centre of each fig and into the dish. Place a small knob of butter on each fig.
4. Bake for 12 min at 200 °C on the middle shelf, basting the figs with their juices halfway through. They are ready when they are tender and slightly slumped, and the syrup is starting to caramelise in the bottom of the dish.
5. While they bake, roughly chop the walnut halves with a knife. Toast them in the small dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 to 3 min, stirring, until they smell nicely toasted.
6. In the bowl, whisk the fromage frais with the vanilla and the last spoonful of honey until smooth and light. Divide the fromage frais between four small bowls.
7. Leave the figs to cool for 5 min out of the oven, as the syrup is scalding hot. Place two figs on top of each bowl of fromage frais, spoon over the cooking juices and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts. Serve warm.