The recipe for fig and port paste, as requested by many.

FIG AND PORT PASTE

1kg fresh figs, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup water
Sugar

Three quarters of a cup of port

Method

Bring the figs, lemon juice and water to the boil over low heat and then simmer until well broken down.

For each cup of this pulp add one cup of sugar.

Bring back to the boil, stirring, then cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 20 minutes.

Add the port and bring back to the boil and cook for 10 minutes more. If you want a caramelised/smoky flavour, let it catch.

If the paste isn’t looking like setting, add a packet of Jamsetta, following manufacturer’s directions and boil 5 minutes more.

HINTS – you would need to play about with this, but some people suggested adding some liquid smoke to get the desired hint of “burnt”

– another suggestion was to let the mixture catch and then place the lid on for a bit.

– if you want to make ice cream using some of the paste, here is how I did it. Mix one and three quarter cups of cream, three quarters of a cup of full cream milk and 160g of the paste (you need to mash it up a bit), plus a dash of vanilla if you like. I then just churned it in my ice cream machine.