When we have so many figs I don’t know what to do with them, I poach them for breakfast. If I poach so many there are not enough breakfasts, I freeze them: what a treat in winter. I simply carefully rinse the figs without bruising them, then quarter and put them into a large saucepan [bottom]. Add a slug of water, not too much as the figs release a lot of pinky juice, and two tablespoons of sugar.
We have a pot of vanilla sugar to hand [below] so I use this but ordinary sugar with a teaspoon of vanilla essence works too. For the jar, simply put ordinary granulated sugar into a sealed jar or plastic box with a vanilla pod which has been slit lengthways. The scent of the vanilla permeates the sugar, as the level of sugar in the jar goes down simply top with more sugar and give it a stir. Gently poach the figs over a low heat until soft but not squishy. Set aside to cool. They keep quite happily in a covered bowl in the fridge for up to a week. 
Today, deep in the winter, we eat them for breakfast with Greek yogurt and a sprinkling of flaked almonds. They work just as well for pudding with a scoop of Mercadona’s vanilla ice-cream. I have frozen them and eaten them a year later without any loss of quality. 
5 to remember
el azúcar – sugar
el zumo – juice
el congelador – freezer
la vainilla – vanilla
las almendras crudas laminadas – raw flaked almonds
Notes on a Spanish Valley
Award-winning blog – Living in rural Andalucia
Notes on a Spanish Valley 
I love figs so so much, but they are easy to find here. So eat a couple for me okay, they look so good!
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They seem so exotic to me too. I want to try making fig jam next. SD
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In dozen Canada I wish I had the challenge of too many figs 🙂 Looks yummy.
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In England we have a fig which is slowly climbing a wall, but we rarely get fruit on it. So the Spanish ones are a real treat. SD
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Fantastico! Sadly we arrived too late for the figs here at our new home, but I’m going to take your advice and when the glut arrives this summer, I’m going to freeze the surplus for over winter. I’m mad about figs and your recipe for poached figs with the vanilla sugar sounds delicious. Thank you!
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Fig jam is lovely too, we’ve never made it but a friend has and its delicious. SD
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This is awesome. Vanilla-poached figs is something we absolutely need to try out. Looking forward now to the fig season. Thank you!
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Keeping a jar of vanilla sugar ready-to-go is the secret. SD
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I’ll have my husband prepare jars of vanilla sugar. Finally a good reason to convince him. 🙂
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Many years ago my parents grew a fig tree which produced hundreds of lucious figs every year. We ate them just picked off the tree but I was always trying to figure out other ways of preparing the fruit. One day I tried to make home made fig newtons. Mine were more of a shortbread sandwich with fig filling, good but no Newton. Wish the tree was still in their yard. It’s still in the yard but someone else owns it now. Maybe the “new” owners are reading your blog and have fallen in love with your recipe and will make poached figs. I may even get off my cooking-lazy derriere and buy some figs and try the recipe myself. Looks simple and simply delicious. Thanks, Sandra, for all your cooking inventions.
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Thx, not sure this classifies as cooking though! SD
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