fig paste Archives - Proud Italian Cook

Stuffed French Toast with Fig and Cream Cheese

Stuffed french toast, what can I say, if you haven’t had it your missing out, so simple to make at home, it takes common french toast and elevates it to a much higher level, worthy of being the star on your brunch or breakfast table, it could feed a crowd, be made ahead of time and kept warm in your oven.

Think of your favorite jam’s or marmalade’s, apricot, orange, peach, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry or plum, or if you prefer any fresh berries will do.

I recently purchased a huge jar of fig paste that was out of this world from a middle eastern store in the city, I couldn’t believe it was only $5.00! Loaded with figs and much thicker than a jam, it worked perfectly, I’m going back for more.

I like to use a good hearty Italian bread or a country loaf, artisan style that you can cut yourself.
Make 1 1/2 inch slices and then with your paring knife make a slit to form a pocket, be careful not to cut all the way through.

For each individual serving I used a mixture of 2 tablespoons of fig paste along with 2 tablespoons of reduced fat cream cheese, so just figure out how many servings you’re going to make and you’ll be able to figure out the amounts. If you’re using fresh berries you might want to add a little powdered sugar in the cream cheese for added sweetness.

Your egg mixture for dipping your french toast will consist of eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. I always sprinkle more cinnamon on top while it’s cooking, the more the better!
Recipe adapted from Everyday Food

Buon Appetito

Cucidati! (Italian Fig Cookies)

Whether you call them Cucidati, Sicilian X Cookies, or just plain Italian Fig Cookies, the end result is the same. Tender sweet dough, that’s wrapped around a very flavorful spiced fig filling.

This is a favorite in many Italian households, and hands down this is my hubby and his brothers

favorite cookie! I think it’s mostly nostalgic, because it reminds them so much of their mom, in fact they call them “Moms cookies”. Weeks before, my BIL will call me and plead ” Are you gonna make mom’s cookies this year? Let’s make mom’s cookies! What do you need? What should I buy? We’ll help you! Normally their idea of helping is spending 5 minutes in the kitchen then popping a DVD in, and every so often I would hear one of them say, “How’s it going up there? “Got any done yet?” Well this year I decided to call their bluff and said I would make them if they help. I think they now have total appreciation for all the work that goes into it!

To make these, you need to set aside the whole day, it’s very time consuming especially if you triple the recipe, which we did. You can however, make the dough and the filling a day ahead of time which I will do next year.

I decided to use Nick Malgieri’s recipe for the dough using butter instead of shortening as my MIL use to do. As far as the filling goes there are a ton of different versions and the way families make them, some even add chocolate but my MIL never did so I make them without.

You can’t go wrong with all or any of the ingredients incorporated with the figs, I’ve had many friends versions I tasted, all slightly different but still taste amazing.

I always taste to see if I want more or less of anything in the process and you should to.

The dough is tender, and easy to work with, and a breeze to make in the food processor!

For the filling, some of the ingredient’s are, golden raisin’s, candied orange peel, toasted and chopped almonds.

Apricot preserves, dark rum or brandy, instant espresso, cinnamon and cloves.

I made my BIL chop up the figs. Nice job UJ!

All the ingredients get whirled together in the food processor and the end result is a thick and flavorful fig paste!

The dough and fig paste gets divided up equally.

One at a time on a floured surface, you flatten each piece of dough and roll it out into a rectangle. Next, roll your fig paste into a log, lay the log on top of the dough, seal the edges and roll it out into a cylinder. Cut them as big as you want.

Here’s our finished project. just waiting for the frosting to dry. You don’t have to frost them, but we like them that way. Needless to say, the 2 brothers were very happy!!