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Fig and Ginger Brûlée Tart

by Cathy Arkle 22 Comments

Fig & Ginger Brûlée Tart | She Paused 4 Thought #cafigs

Figs are my current obsession. They make me happy when I gaze at them. Their sensuously rich, honey-like taste – which always makes me think of a hot summer day under the Mediterranean sun, pairs well with many flavors as well as on their own. I suspected a few people didn’t know what a fresh fig tastes like, and after my last fig post my suspicions were confirmed. How can something so seductively flavorful, something as old as the Bible, still be so unknown to so many?

I recently hosted a party for my Mom and her sisters for their annual silliness fest, where they eat and laugh until they can’t do it anymore. The day of the party just happened to be my Aunt Sharon’s birthday. So with my abundance of fresh figs generously donated by the California Fig Industry from the Figology Fest LA event, I thought what better way to celebrate than with a fresh fig tart.

When the gals all arrived I mentioned that I had a special fig dessert for them, the conversation stopped, until my dear Mom got it started again with a silly Ole and Lena joke. It turned out the joke was on me when I found out they thought they hated figs.

Clark sisters | She Paused 4 Thought

How could they look at these beautiful figs and think they wouldn’t fall in love?

Fig & Ginger Brûlée Tart | She Paused 4 Thought #cafigs

My Aunt Sharon put on her best brave face and faced her fig fears.

Fig Tart| She Paused 4 Thought

She made a wish (pretty sure it was for chocolate cake) and blew out her “ish” birthday candle before timidly taking a bite.

empty-plates | She Paused 4 Thought

Then, the rest of the gang followed suit. When all was said and done, there wasn’t a crumb left on any of the plates. Score.

Today’s Recipe:

Figs really don’t need to be baked. That is why fresh figs work so well in this gingerized tart. It is perfect for summer entertaining. Simply bake the crust, add the cream cheese filling and top with fresh figs. Sprinkle with sugar and caramelize. You’re finished with your gorgeous tart!

Fig and Ginger Brûlée Tart

If you don’t have a kitchen torch, you can turn your oven on to BROIL and set the tart on the top rack. Leave the oven door open and remove the tart as soon as the sugar starts to caramelize, no more than a few minutes. Another (healthier) alternative is to eliminate the sugar and drizzle with honey.

Print

Fig and Ginger Brûlée Tart

This beautiful fig tart is perfect for summertime entertaining.
Course Dessert
Author Cathy Arkle

Ingredients

Tart Crust

  • 1 cup flour
  • ⅓ cup toasted and cooled pistachios
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt omit if using salted pistachios
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ cup chilled butter cut into small ½" cubes I always use KerryGold Butter
  • 1 egg yolk

Filling:

  • 8 ounces package cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons honey
  • 2 Tablespoons crystalized ginger finely diced

Topping:

  • 1/4 cup chopped pistachios or as needed
  • 3 Tablespoons of sugar or as needed

Instructions

For Tart Crust:

  1. Blend flour, pistachios, sugar, salt and ginger in a food processor until nuts are finely chopped.
  2. Add butter and cut in using on/off pulsing. Add 2 tablespoons cold water and egg yolk. Blend together.
  3. Gather dough into a ball and press into bottom and up sides of a 9" or 10" tart pan with removable bottom. Chill for 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Bake tart crust for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. Let cool on wire rack to room temperature before filling.

Tart Filling

  1. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, honey and crystalized ginger. Mix until combined. Spread cream cheese filling into cooled tart shell.
  2. Arrange cut figs on top of cream cheese filling.
  3. Cover with plastic wrap and keep chilled in the fridge until ready to serve.
  4. Right before serving, sprinkle granulated sugar (as needed) over figs. Use a kitchen torch to brûlée the figs, creating a nice golden sugar crust.
  5. Sprinkle crushed pistachios over tart. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Hazelnuts are a great substitution for pistachios.

Even thought it was my Aunt’s birthday the sisters love any reason to have a White Elephant gift exchange. My mom hit it the jackpot – after all, 

Clark sisters | Cathy nelson arkle

you never know when you will need Breast Suspenders while traveling incognito.

The day was a success, and each left with a warm place in her heart for figs. When you try this tart, you will too. Meanwhile, I am busy trying to convert one fig-hater at a time.
…and then, she paused for thought.

Other fig recipes to enjoy:

figs-in-a-blanket-s fig-appetizer | She Paused 4 Thought fig-shake | She Paused 4 Thought stuffed-figs | She Paused 4 Thought

 

Yum

Filed Under: Breakfast / Brunch, Dessert, Fruit & Veggies, Party Food, Recipes, Snacks Tagged With: CAFigs, easy desserts, Figology Fest, fresh figs, Kerrygold Butter, summer entertaining, tart recipe

Previous Post: « Fresh Figs on Parmesan Crisps @ Figology Fest LA
Next Post: Hatch Chile, Veggie & Goat Cheese Jalousie »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Valentina Kenney (@cookingweekends)

    at

    GORGEOUS pictures! Looks absolutely delicious, and the family photo with captions is hilarious. The must love figs after eating that dessert.

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      Thanks Valentina. They were ALL shocked by the taste of figs. It was a tough crowd to convert, but I think I can say they all love figs now.

      Reply
  2. Fresh Food in a Flash

    at

    You are not only an artist, but a comic. Fun and beautiful post! I have figs in my fridge! Mmmm.

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      LOL glad you enjoyed the post!

      Reply
  3. Rona Lewis

    at

    I am SO going to make this (now that I can actually make a pie crust!). What about adding a touch of cinnamon to the filling? Would that work with the ginger?

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      Rona, this recipe works with any tart crust you like. I think cinnamon works well with figs and ginger. Give it a try and let me know.

      Reply
  4. Christina Peters

    at

    Beautiful! And now we know where you get your great sense of humor from!

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      LOL Christina, this is true.

      Reply
  5. Leslie Macchiarella

    at

    What a gorgeous dessert! And such charming photos of your folks and their fun party!

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      Thanks Leslie, my family is always full of fun and surprises.

      Reply
  6. Lentil Breakdown

    at

    Wow! I’m glad you are the designated fig Mission-ary since you had such gorgeous fig tarts to convert them! And nice to know there are breast suspenders, in case those tart calories decide to travel.

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      LOL I love being a fig Mission-ary! If you use low-fat cream cheese maybe that would delay the use of breast suspenders for awhile. 🙂

      Reply
  7. sue/the view from great island

    at

    This is so beautiful — we are on the same page today, I posted a fig gelato!

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      Thanks Sue, great minds think alike! I LOVE figs.

      Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      Your fig gelato looks greats. It is on my to-do list.

      http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/2014/08/roasted-fig-gelato.html

      Reply
  8. CC

    at

    Great post! What fun relatives you have…can you adopt me? As usual, your photos are just stunning, Cathy! And what a great photo with the word bubbles…too cute! I bet your mom and aunts loved this post! 🙂

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      Christina, consider yourself adopted. It was a really fun day.

      Reply
  9. Julie Grose

    at

    Just priceless your dear mother looking so intently at the breast suspenders….she took all the “oldest sister” teasing well in stride. I never knew figs could be so wonderful until that day, thank you again Cathy for all the delicious food and fun time…..lets not even get started on talking about ALL the OTHER wonderful food you served that day or all your blog readers will start showing up on your door step at dinnertime! Love you and hugs, Cousin Julie

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      Thanks Julie! It was a fun day and yes, my Colombian post with the other food is yet to come. So glad you enjoyed it and thanks again for your help with the festivities.

      Reply
  10. sippitysup

    at

    “She made a wish (pretty sure it was for chocolate cake)”

    I’ve been to parties like that and this made me hoot out loud!! Keep converting the figless. XOGREG

    Reply
  11. The Milspouse Foodie

    at

    Oh no! I too have not tried a fresh fig but feel now as though I must! This tart seems like a cinch to make; I’d better get to it!

    Reply
    • Cathy Arkle

      at

      I really hope you do try a fresh fig, there is nothing quite like it. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

I would love to hear from you!Cancel reply

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Welcome to She Paused 4 Thought! I’m Cathy - a farm girl from Iowa living in Los Angeles. Let’s cook, laugh, travel & have fun together. Read More…

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