Istrian recipe: FIG (AND CHOCOLATE) MUFFINS

It’s an incredibly warm September on my forgotten farm in Istra. Summer 2011 is one of the hottest on record and throughout the day we’ve constantly been attacked by hornets and wasps coming from the two large fig trees just outside the veranda. We are thinking of ways of using the vast amounts of the queen of Mediterranean fruits that ripen every day.
One early morning munching on fresh fruits directly from the tree, we decide to make fig muffins. Muffins are a novelty in Croatian and Istrian kitchens and we started making them only recently. My sister bought muffin cases and muffin baking tray on one of her trips to London. We quickly got used to making them and they became very popular in my family (and neighbours of the farm).

INGREDIENTS
10-12 figs (we used a mix of white, green and reddish figs)
3 eggs
1 cup (180-200 ml) vegetable or sunflower oil
280 g flour
100g sugar
1 vanilla sugar sachet (10 g) or a little vanilla extract
1 baking powder (10g)
Chopped dark chocolate (50-100 g, if you are using it)

HOW TO MAKE FIG MUFFINS

Peel and mash figs. I like the combination of colours and sweetness of different kind of figs. Add slightly beaten eggs, oil and vanilla sugar, then mix all together into a smooth mixture.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, sugar and baking powder then fold it into the fig and egg mixture. If you wish you can add some roughly chopped chocolate at this moment. Put more or less equal amounts of mixture in each muffin case and bake for approx. 25 min.

The final product is a yummy taste of a hot late summer day on a Mediterranean inland farm.