I love trying out new bakery products. Especially when travelling. When I came across a golden little pastry in a bakery in New York (lucky, I know), and the sign said Fig Bar, I knew I had to have it. Right then. Right there.
There were two nice ladies behind the counter. I asked, “Can I please have a fig bar?”
One lady started giggling. The other bit her lip to avoid doing the same, and said, “Excuse me?”
I realised I had made a mistake. All they had heard was, “Ken Oi Pleez Hev Uh Fug Bah?”
I repeated the question in my best fudged American accent.
“Oh, a fig bar. Well of course, sugar!” came the reply.
And then, the little warm pastry roll filled with fig paste was mine. I had never tried a fig bar before, but I understand they’re very popular in the US. I think the Fig Newton is a mass produced version of the fig bar (am I right?). Anyway. This one was so good. I have set about trying to recreate it. I had a look through my books at home to see if I could find anything similar, and patched a few things together to make these ones. The pastry recipe comes from a book called “Sweet Food” that I got in a paper plus bargain bin years ago. It’s a small fat book – if you see it in a shop, buy it. It is actually full of great stuff.
I’d love to say I took this photo, but I didn’t. That credit goes to my photography tutor. Thanks, Alastair!
Back to the fig bars. They have a cream cheese pastry – slightly crisp, but not biscuit-y. The cream cheese flavour is really subtle, but goes nicely with the dried fruit mix. Instead of using just figs, I mixed in a few different dried fruits, and added a wee bit of dark chocolate. Enjoy!
Fig, Date & Chocolate Bars
Adapted from “Sweet Food”
Cream Cheese Pastry
90g cream cheese, softened (don’t use spreadable or lite stuff, it’s too soft)
60g caster sugar
1 egg, separated
3 Tbsp milk
1½ cups plain flour
pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
Fruit Filling
220g chopped dried fruit, any mix you like*
60g dark chocolate, chopped (or dark chocolate chips)
1 tsp lemon zest
¼ cup runny honey
½ tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon
*I used mainly figs and dates, there were also a few dried apricots and raisins in there
To make the pastry, beat the cream cheese and caster sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk and milk, then sift in the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours (I left mine in the fridge overnight).
To make the dried fruit filling, just put everything in a food processor and whiz until finely chopped. Best to use the pulse function here so you don’t end up with a mushy fruit sauce. I also made the filling the day before and kept it in the fridge too.
When you’re ready to make the fig bars, preheat the oven to 180°(c). These are funny things to make at this point. You need to roll really long strips of the pastry. The recipe suggested dividing both the pastry and the fruit filling into three to make this easier. So, roll each third of the fruit filling into a sausage shape about 30cm long. Then, roll each third of your pastry out to a 10cmx30cm rectangle.
Brush one long edge of each pastry rectangle with water, so it’s easily sealed when you roll it up. Then place one fruit filling rope on each pastry rectangle – closer to the side that you haven’t brushed with water. I flattened my fruit filling down a little, and then rolled the pastry over, pressing the damp pastry to seal it nicely. Get the pastry roll with the seam side down, and cut into bars, just like you cut up sausage rolls. I made mine about 4-5cm long. Then place the bars (seam side down) on a lined baking tray.
Hopefully you kept the egg white when you made the pastry. Mix it with 1 Tbsp of water, and brush this over the bars as a glaze. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until they’re shiny and golden. Leave them on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. It makes about 24 bars the size of mine.
