Chocolate covered praline figs

It’s my favorite time of year! Oh yes, the holidays are almost here! The festive lights, special holiday flavors that grace us with their delish presence for these few short months, smell of spices, and… the food!

Here’s a holiday recipe I created to kick-start the season. Hope you enjoy!

CHOCOLATE COVERED PRALINE FIGS

What you’ll need:

15 fresh figs (I purchased mine yesterday at a nearby farmer’s market for $2.50)

1/3 cup praline pecans

2.5 tablespoons of orange marmalade

2/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons of butter

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

3 cups of water

2 pots

wax paper or baking paper

skewer or chopstick

mortar and pestle (or heavy duty bowl and the back of a knife)

pastry bag (or ziploc bag)

scissors

Total time: 40 minutes

1. Wash and dry fresh figs.

2.  Using a circular motion with your skewer/chopstick, poke holes in the bottom of the figs and remove a small portion of the flesh to make room for the marmalade.

3. Fill pastry bag/ziploc bag with marmalade and cut a small corner out to allow the marmalade to be squeezed out.

4. Fill figs with marmalade and set aside.

5. Fill smaller pot with water and boil. (You can also use two of the same sized pots).
6. Crush praline pecans using the mortar and pestle or bowl and knife. Be careful! =)

Crush, crush, crush. Chop, chop, chop. And crunch, crunch, crunch, until it looks something like this…

7. When water comes to a rapid boil, place larger pot on top and decrease heat to medium-low.

Make sure it covers the entire top of the bottom pan. This is called a double boiler and allows the chocolate to melt evenly and without burning.

8. Melt chocolate chips and butter on the top pan. Stir with a wooden spoon.
9. Dip stuffed figs into the melted chocolate and roll in the crushed pecans.
10. Place figs on the wax paper/baking paper and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

Enjoy immediately or wait until the chocolate hardens. Both are mm-mm-good! The cinnamon smell really reminds me of the holidays and makes this a perfect autumn treat!

*If you have leftover melted chocolate, mix in a little marmalade, let it harden and you have some scrumptious orange-chocolate!