This one comes from Patricia Well’s The Paris Cookbook, she never disappoints! Fresh figs, almonds, creme fraiche – what’s not to love, I did cut the sugar down a bit – hey figs are pretty sweet on their own. This one is best served warm, but ya can always give it a quick warm up in the oven.
Ingredients:
2/3 c cream fraiche or heavy creme
4 springs thyme
4 eggs
1/3 c sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 c ground almonds
2 lb figs, stemmed and a “X” cut halfway through
Thyme Sugar:
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp sugar
Preheat oven to 375. Spray or butter a 10 1/2 inch round baking dish.
In a small sauce pan, combine creme fraiche and thyme over moderate heat until tiny bubbles form around the edge. Stir, remove from heat and allow to steep for an hour.
In a bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk, beat eggs, sugar and salt at high speed until thick about 2 minutes. Stir in almonds, extract and thyme cream.
Pour 1/2 in the pan. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven.
Arrange figs over the batter. Pour remaining batter over figs and bake 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine sugar and thyme in a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder.
Scatter thyme sugar over the gratin and bake for 10 more minutes until golden brown.
Remove from oven. Serve warm.
Serves 8.
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