Inspiration: what is it? For me it is an ingredient I have had bumming around my pantry for a while. This week's inspired ingredient was dried fig. 
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This recipe just came to me while I was pondering how to use these whole, beautiful figs in a baked good. I wanted to use other flavours that would pair well with the figs, were reminiscent of the Mediterranean and were already on my shelf. 
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I made a simple pie crust, sweetened slightly, to wrap the figs in. Then I took some coconut butter, mixed it with brown sugar, lime juice and ground ginger, and spread it out on little rounds of dough. I topped the filling off with a single fig and wrapped them up. 
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I don't know if it was the dough itself or the size of my pockets, but the majority of them fell apart as soon as they hit the heat. The ratio in the filling between coconut butter and sugar was too low as well; I had oil dripping out of these and filling the pan. 
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The above was one of the successful ones. When I placed them on the sheet I had pictured them staying fully pinched shut, hiding the fig completely, but I quite liked the way the pastry just gently fell away, revealing the fig underneath. 
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These tasted much better the day after I made them. The filling lost some of the oiliness and the sugar became slightly chewy. I would really like to work with this recipe some more, especially perfecting the pie dough. There is at least one flavour element missing and I would like to find a way to add a little more color, even if it is as an embellishment. 


-Bizzle



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