Fig Bread

This fig bread is a vintage quick bread that swaps refined sugar for a full cup of honey, which keeps the crumb tender and the loaf moist for days on the counter. The combination of sweet milk and sour milk does double duty: the sour milk reacts with baking soda for lift, while the sweet milk softens the crumb. No sour milk on hand? A splash of vinegar or lemon juice into regular milk does the same trick in five minutes.

Tossing the chopped figs and raisins in a little reserved flour before folding them into the batter keeps the fruit suspended throughout the loaf instead of sinking to the bottom. The batter bakes slowly so the honey doesn’t burn and the dense, fruit-and-nut studded interior cooks through without a gummy middle.

Chef Tips

• Make sour milk on the fly by stirring a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice into a quarter cup of regular milk and letting it sit five minutes until it curdles slightly.
• Coat the chopped fruit and nuts in some of the dry flour mixture before stirring in. Without that flour dusting they sink to the bottom of the loaf.
• Test for doneness with a toothpick in the center, not the edge. The honey makes the surface look done long before the inside is.
• Cool the loaf fully before slicing; honey-sweetened breads are gummy when warm and only slice cleanly after a rest.

Variations

• Use chopped dates or dried apricots in place of the raisins for a different sweetness profile.
• Swap walnuts or pecans in for the generic “nuts” depending on what’s in the pantry.
• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of cardamom for a spiced holiday loaf.