What a treat we have for you today. Marimar Torres, the Spanish-born founder of Marimar Estate in Sonoma’s lush Green Valley hills, sent us a gorgeous dessert recipe from her cookbook “The Spanish Table.” This is one to wow your friends with.
Marimar’s daughter Cristina, who manages the winery, spoke thoughtfully on bending the “rule” around pairing wine with dessert: “The common understanding is that dessert should be served with a wine that is as sweet or sweeter than the dessert. Because if the dish is sweeter than the wine, it can make the wine taste bitter, the alcohol harsher, and the tannins more astringent – an unpleasant experience. That's why we usually serve sweet wines with dessert. But this fig dish goes well with Marimar's Pinot Noir and also the Tempranillo because you have that really dark chocolate, not milk chocolate. And with Pinot Noir, you have ripe fruit and you have low, low tannins that make it more compatible.” Her mom added that a small percentage of people will never enjoy pairing a dry wine with dessert, but a majority find it rewarding.
Count us in the majority. We opened a bottle of Marimar’s succulent 2022 “La Masía” Pinot, which our Platinum members received last month. The key was moving slowly between the deep chocolatey-nutty figs and the wine, taking a couple sips of Pinot between bites, and really aerating the wine in the mouth. The result: a compelling release of sultry, savory notes in the Pinot, and a heightened, nicely “roughened” flavor in the dessert.
Dried Figs Stuffed with Chocolate and Nuts
In Spanish: Higos Pasos Rellenos con Salsa de Chocolate
Makes 24 stuffed figs
For the figs:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange liqueur, such as Torres’ Magdala Orange Liqueur or Grand Marnier
24 dried Calimyrna figs, or another moist type
3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts
For the chocolate sauce:
1 cup heavy cream
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 tablespoons finest-quality Spanish brandy, such as Torres 15 or Torres 20
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To prepare the figs:
-
In a saucepan, combine sugar with liqueur and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add figs, reduce heat to low and cook at a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the figs have softened slightly.
-
Turn off heat and let figs steep in the syrup for 1/2 hour to an hour. Remove figs and reserve.
-
Cook syrup over medium-high heat until just before it reaches thread consistency (220–225 degrees F. on a candy thermometer).
To prepare the stuffing:
-
In a food processor, finely grind together the pistachios, then add the walnuts, and finally the chocolate.
-
Stir 1 tablespoon of the fig syrup into the chocolate mixture. Keep remaining liquid.
To prepare the chocolate sauce:
-
Heat the cream in the top of a double boiler over boiling water, or in a heavy-bottomed small saucepan.
-
Melt chocolates in the cream, stirring over very low heat, until combined into a smooth sauce.
-
Off heat, add brandy and vanilla. Keep warm.
-
If you make this sauce ahead, reheat it in a double boiler, stirring, so it does not separate.
To assemble the dish:
-
Cut off stem ends from the figs. With your finger, poke a hole in the stem end of each fig to make a pouch.
-
Fill with some of the stuffing. Close up the fig opening by pinching it together firmly (don’t worry if the figs don’t close all the way).
-
Place figs, stem side up, in the saucepan with the remaining liquid, to warm them up.
-
Scoop a pool of warm chocolate sauce onto each plate. Place warm figs on top. Serve immediately.