Bake Off Technical No. 2: Fig Rolls

Round two here we go! After our success in the first technical of the season, in ready to smash next one. In contrast to the previous article, I am writing this one as I bake so I can better record how it goes. I was putting off the second technical as it really doesn’t excite me. I associate fig rolls with them being the boring snack around Christmas that nobody wants to eat. Not something I would ever choose to bake myself, which is exactly the point of doing these challenges! Fig rolls have a soft biscuity/cakey outer with a nicely spiced fig filling. I am interested in the biscuit cake outer and what texture this will turn out as. Having watched the show, I know the shape and size I am aiming for, and to taste taste taste that filling to make sure the spices are just right.

One thing I like about the show’s technical recipes is that they make enough, but not too much. This recipe gives you 12 fig rolls, which will be enough to taste and see whether they’re worth making again. This recipe is pretty simple, and first off is the biscuit dough. Not sure what there is to say about this! It has baking powder is which is what makes it fluffy and cakey. I mixed this up and wrapped it into a happy cling film square which then needs to chill. Next up, I need to make the figgy filling.

The above photos are evidence that I actually sifted the flour! I usually skip this step, but in the spirit of actually following all the instructions I decided to push the boat out. The figgy filling had a good amount of stem ginger and ground cinnamon in it to complement the flavour of the dried figs. I’m not gonna lie, one all blitzed into a paste it looked a lot like a pile of poop.

Now the dough has finished chilling, and the fig filling has cooled, it’s time for assembly. I told you this is a quick one! I wonder if I added a little too much water to the filling, it was quite sticky to handle (much like poop?). I needed to roll two long sausages of fig filling to go in the middle of two long rectangles of dough. My rolling pin conveniently has centimetre markings on it so I could actually make them the right size!

There was plenty of filling and I had some dough scraps, so as well as the allotted twelve fig rolls, I managed to make a few extra small ones. They looked rather good and uniform sitting together on the tray. To make sure they weren’t too round (a criticism in the show) I pressed down firmly with the fork to flatten them a bit.

Aaaand we’re done. This was really really simple, and they look pretty great! They taste good too, for fig rolls. I have come to the conclusion they aren’t the sweet treat for me though – a little to dry for me, and the lack of chocolate is a bit sad. Maybe they could be improved by dipping them in chocolate? An experiment for another time…

Next up…floury baps, again courtesy of Paul Hollywood.

How did I do? Let me know!