Hazelnut Fig Twists Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 285 degrees F (140 degrees C). Cover the bottom plate of a 9-inch springform pan with aluminum foil and snap plate into the ring. Coat the sides of the pan with butter.
• Process vanilla cookies in a food processor to yield 2 cups of crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and add butter; use a fork to blend. Press crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan. Top crust with 1/2 the figs and 1 cup hazelnuts.
• Place cream cheese in a large bowl and beat using an electric mixer on low speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl. Sift sugar and flour together in a bowl and add to the cream cheese mixture. Add sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and hazelnut liqueur, beating thoroughly. Add eggs 1 at a time and mix on low speed until yolks disappear. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes without opening the oven door. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake inside with door closed for 60 minutes more, allowing residual heat to set the cheesecake. Open oven door slightly at 1 hour and leave cheesecake in the cooling oven for another 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven and let cool at room temperature for 60 minutes more.
• Refrigerate cheesecake for 1 hour. Unhook pan clasp and slowly remove ring, making sure not to touch the sides of the cake. Place cheesecake in the freezer, covered or uncovered, 8 hours to overnight. Remove from freezer 1 hour before serving.
• Prepare the topping just before serving: Place honey in a microwave-safe bowl and heat slightly. Stir in bourbon. Arrange hazelnuts around edge and in the center of cheesecake. Drizzle honey-bourbon mixture on top.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut 6 figs into 3/4-inch dice. Set aside in a bowl.
• In a food processor, process nuts until medium fine. Sift together flour and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar; add to nuts; pulse to combine. Add egg, egg white, butter, brandy, pepper, and zest. Process to combine, about 10 seconds. Add batter to figs, and mix together.
• Spray four 3 3/4-inch (or one 8-inch) tart pans with vegetable-oil spray. Divide batter evenly among the pans. Cut remaining 2 figs lengthwise into 6 slices each. Arrange 3 slices over each tart. Place tart pans on a baking sheet. Bake until tarts are set and golden brown, about 40 minutes (for individual tarts or one large tart). Remove from oven and cool slightly. Remove tarts from pans, sprinkle with remaining sugar, and serve.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt butter, letting it cook until it turns nut brown and smells toasted, about 5 minutes. Pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool. (Do not scrape up any black bits from the bottom of the pot.)
• In a large bowl, combine sugar, hazelnut flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and set on low speed (or use a whisk and a strong arm), beat in egg whites until flour mixture is damp. Add butter and beat on medium-high speed (or vigorously by hand) until very smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla. At this point, the batter can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.
• Trim stems off figs and slice each one crosswise into 3 rounds; you will have 9 fig rounds.
• Butter and flour nine 1/2-cup muffin cups. Divide batter between cups and top each with a slice of fig. Bake until financiers are golden brown and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before unmolding.

Steps:

• Combine 1 cup milk and yeast in a small bowl and let stand for 10 minutes until frothy.
• Mix whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour with sugar and salt in a large bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add yeast mixture, butter, and egg yolks. Knead into a smooth, elastic dough using the kneading attachment until the dough detaches from the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes. If the mixture seems dry, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time. Cover and let rise for 2 hours in a warm place.
• Mix hazelnuts, sugar, rum, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and cloves in a large bowl for the filling. Add 1/2 cup milk and stir until evenly moistened.
• Beat egg whites in a glass, metal, or ceramic bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold stiff egg whites into the hazelnut mixture.
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.
• Punch the dough down and divide into 2 equal parts. Cover 1 part with a clean dish towel and turn out the other part onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a 24x12-inch rectangle and spread 1/2 of the filling on top. Fold dough in half lengthwise to create a 24×6-inch rectangle. Pinch all the edges to seal and gently press down the dough to remove any air pockets.
• Using a ruler for even spacing, cut the rectangle into 1 1/2-inch strips with a sharp chef's knife. Make sure to cut all the way down to the bottom layer, but don't drag the knife. Twist each strip around itself 3 to 4 times. Place the strips on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of space between them.
• Proceed the same way with the remaining dough.
• Cover the twists with clean dish towels and let them proof in a warm place until visibly risen, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat 2 egg yolks with 2 tablespoons milk in a small bowl. Brush the twists with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake hazelnut twists in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer hazelnut twists to wire racks and let cool completely.

Steps:

• To make Fig Preserve:.
• Sauté the chopped shallots in butter until softened, but not browned. Add chopped dried mission figs, port and dried thyme. Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes or until figs are tender and most of liquid is absorbed; cool.
• Purée in food processor to a rough paste.
• To prepare Twists:.
• Preheat oven to 400*F.
• Place pastry sheets on lightly floured work surface. Beat egg and water, set aside. Spread fig preserve evenly over one pastry sheet. Sprinkle blue cheese and 3/4 cup hazelnuts over preserve. Place second pastry sheet over hazelnuts.
• Brush top of pastry with beaten egg. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts, gently pressing nuts into pastry. Turn pastry over and repeat with beaten egg and remaining hazelnuts. Pastry should measure 9x12".
• Cut pastry across shortest width into 1/2-inch strips. Twist and arrange on greased baking sheet. Bake at 400*F for 15 minutes or until risen and golden. Cool on wire rack.

Steps:

• First, make the sponge. Put the dried figs in a bowl and pour over the coffee. Leave to soak for 30 mins. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the hazelnuts onto a baking tray and toast in the oven for 5-8 mins until golden brown and aromatic. Tip 75g of the nuts into a food processor (set aside the rest for later) and leave to cool for 10 mins. Meanwhile grease the base and sides of a 20 x 30cm rectangular cake tin with butter and line with baking parchment.
• Whizz the cooled nuts until finely chopped. Add the soaked figs and any remaining coffee, and whizz again to a paste. Add the remaining sponge ingredients to the processor with a good pinch of salt. Blend until well combined, scraping down the sides once or twice and blending again. Scrape into your cake tin, level the surface and bake for 25 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then flip onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment and leave to cool.
• While the cake cools, make the icing. Put the butter, vanilla and half the sugar in a large bowl. Roughly mash together with a spatula, then blend with an electric hand whisk until smooth. Add the cream cheese and the remaining icing sugar, mash, then blend again until smooth. Split the icing into 2 batches, one for layering and a crumb coat, and one for a final coat. You can chill the icing while the cake cools, but remove it from the fridge 15 mins before using to bring back to room temperature.
• Now assemble the cake. Transfer the cooled cake to a chopping board. Score the sponge at 10cm intervals along the length of the cake, marking out 3 sections, 20 x 10cm each. Cut through, then stack the cakes on top of each other to check they are the same size. Trim any uneven edges, then unstack.
• Put 1 sponge on a cake board or plate. Spread with a little icing and 3 tbsp fig jam, keeping the jam about 1cm from the edges. Top with another sponge, more icing and jam, then sandwich with the final sponge. Use a palette knife to cover the entire cake with the remaining first batch of icing (the crumb coat) - don't worry if it's a little messy. Make sure you fill any gaps between the layers with icing. Once covered, chill for at least 30 mins to firm up the icing. Chill the remaining icing too, but bring it out of the fridge 10-15 mins before the cake so it is ready for spreading.
• Decorate the cake. Remove it from the fridge and cover with the remaining icing. Use a palette knife to create smooth edges, or leave it fairly rough, if you like. Top the cake with the figs, pointy ends up. Put the caramel in a small piping bag, snip off the corner and drizzle over the top of the cake, encouraging it down the sides (or just drizzle it over with a spoon). Roughly chop the remaining toasted nuts and scatter over the top. Serve in slices with extra figs on the side, if you like. Keep leftovers in the fridge for 3 days, but bring to room temperature before eating.