Rick Stein's Fresh figs with vanilla fromage blanc, Ribérac style

Perfectly formed and full of fecundity. our local figs

Having made a good supply of fig and walnut chutney with our freshly picked figs Lesley and I decided to use some of them to make this week's dessert for our table d'hotes in the B&B.  We wanted a simple, fuss-free recipe that would be easy to prep up and light on the palate in these soaring temperatures.  So, where better to look than in Rick Stein's "French Odyssey".  To add our own bent to Rick's recipe we decided to inject an element from our neighbouring department immediately to the north, the Charente, the home of the world famous Cognac.  Rather than simply divide the figs into two halves as Rick does we decided to let them steep in a bowl of said Cognac for half an hour, skin side down, before serving.  

Whilst the figs were taking up the Cognac we prepared the fromage frais by mixing in the vanilla pod seeds and the caster sugar.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating and our guests just loved the freshness and simplicity of this dessert.

Ready for the table

As we are about to go on, probably our final fig picking expedition tomorrow and have some more table d'hotes coming up we are going to experiment further by trying cardamom in the fromage frais instead of vanilla.