Pumpkins in the mist are actually chocolate-wrapped calabacita figs. WHAT IT IS: Ganache-stuffed calabacita figs, covered in Valrhona chocolate. WHY IT’S DIFFERENT: Miniature figs from Spain are filled with a heavenly whiskey-clove ganache. You can have them styled as pumpkins, in orange-tinted white chocolate, as shown above, or simply dipped in dark chocolate with a straight chocolate ganache. WHY WE LOVE IT: A simply spectacular confection, available only in the fall when the figs are harvested. WHERE TO BUY IT: JohnAndKiras.com.

The Great Pumpkin: John & Kira’s Chocolate Fig Confections Halloween is a week away. While there may be some NIBBLE readers who hanker for the miniature candy bars of youth, we have a much better recommendation. One of the delights we look forward to each fall is a box of chocolate-covered figs from John & Kira’s, one of our favorite artisan chocolatiers. John & Kira’s makes two variations of these confections, using sweet, fragile calabacita figs from Spain. The Fig Pumpkins, shown at the left, are dipped in a thin layer of white chocolate and tinted a perfect shade of pumpkin. They’re a seasonal special, but Dark Chocolate Figs are available year-round. The Fig Pumpkins are filled with a delectable whiskey clove ganache, the Dark Chocolate Figs with a pure dark chocolate ganache. We flip for these little figgies. Putting one at each place setting at Halloween or Thanksgiving, serving them with after-dinner coffee or bringing a box to your host(ess) is certain to delight. And don’t forget to send a box to that bewitching someone special. Read the full review below. Read reviews of more of our favorite gourmet chocolate in THE NIBBLE online magazine. See the Table of Contents of the October issue of THE NIBBLE, plus the prior issues archive and our most popular articles. All of the Top Pick Of The Week newsletters are permanently archived on TheNibble.com, in chronological order and by product category.

More Great Chocolate

Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate, by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. America’s preeminent maker of gourmet baking chocolate launches its first cookbook, with more than 100 recipes for classics as well as Chocolate Chunk Challah, a homemade version of Oreos and savory dishes made with chocolate like Tortilla Soup and Chile-Marinated Flank Steak. Click here for more information.	Chocolate Obsession: Confections and Treats to Create and Savor, by Michael Recchiuti and Fran Gage. The top chocolatier makes it possible for amateurs to achieve his artistry in dipped chocolates, truffles and molded chocolates. With his recipes for Earl Grey tea, burnt caramel and tarragon with grapefruit ganaches, plus some delicious baked goods (Recchiuti is also a pâtissier), this book provides many hours of happiness. Click here for more information.	Chocolate and Vanilla, by Gale Gand. James Beard Award-winner Gand, host of the Food Network’s Sweet Dreams and co-owner and Executive Pastry Chef at Chicago’s Tru, dazzles as usual. Recipes are both delicious and visually arresting. Those who are chocoholics may discover their inner vanilla-holic in this book, which gives equal attention to the spice that Gand considers even sexier than chocolate. Click here for more information.

The Great Pumpkin: John & Kira’s Chocolate Fig Confections

We adore the fruit-filled bonbons from John & Kira’s. They were a Top Pick Of The Week last year. John Doyle and Kira Baker-Doyle are perfectionists, seeking the finest seasonal fruits, herbs and nuts from small, dedicated family farmers. They then blend the fresh ingredients into chocolate ganache and enrobe the dark, milk and white chocolate ganaches—bergamot, coffee whiskey, ginger, honey lavender, lemongrass, mint, pistachio, star anise, strawberry and raspberry—with semisweet Valrhona chocolate (64% cacao—read our full review of these delightful chocolates).

Sometimes, John and Kira get to fill fruit with ganache, rather than the other way around. Specifically, they use calabacita figs from Ecoficus, an organically-farmed, family-run enterprise in the remote valleys of the Extremadura region of Spain (highlighted on the map at the right). These particular figs are more formally known as the Calabacita de Álmoharin, after the village in which they are grown. The cultivar was brought from eastern Asia more than 600 years ago by Arabs or Sephardic Jews, both of whom settled in the area. (NOTE: Calabacita is also a word used in Latin America for zucchini.)
Map of Iberia, highlighting the Extremadura region of Spain, courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

Not well-known in the U.S., except by a few gourmets who have discovered imports available in specialty shops, the calabacita fig is one of the smaller fig varieties, honey-colored with a fine texture and small seeds. Noted for its beautiful flavor, extremely thin, soft skin and sweet, almost candy-like taste, these specialty Spanish figs have long inspired confectioners to dip them in chocolate (called bombóns de higo, fig bonbons). If you’ve had the Rabitos chocolate-covered figs from Spain, they’re very good, but are a large-production product that can’t hold a candle to John & Kira’s artisan confections.

John and Kira are so excited about their calabacitas, they actually receive photos of theprecious fruits as they mature throughout the summer on the Los Llanillos farm. The photo at the left was taken in early August.  Smile!

The first batch of dried figs arrived at John & Kira’s in Philadelphia in September. They were promptly dipped in dark chocolate, to be enjoyed for a few months until pumpkin season arrived, and their white-chocolate dipped siblings joined them in production. While they look a somewhat orange on the vine, it takes a bit of chocolatier magic to turn them into their full pumpkin glory, below.

White-Chocolate “Fig Pumpkins”

A fall special (October through December) these little figgies will warm any heart. They are so irresistible that the moment we opened the box, we popped one into our mouth as an involuntary reaction—before even thinking to offer them first to guests. The whiskey-clove ganache is spectacular, but if you’re a chocolate purist (or don’t like whiskey-flavored chocolates), you can have the Dark Chocolate Figs, almost as irresistible, with a solid chocolate ganache. Just hop over these pumpkins to the next section.

Dark Chocolate Figs

If your heart beats for pure bittersweet, the Dark Chocolate Figs take the same plump little calabacitas and fill them with a straight 64% Valrhona ganache. Instead of white chocolate, they’re enrobed in a thin layer of Valrhona’s 58% dark chocolate. They’re also available year-round, which will be a comforting thought as soon as you taste one. Whichever fig you choose (and please choose both!), they provide great pleasure beyond merely reveling in a box of chocolate fig bonbons. (That the wooden box is a reusable is an added bonus.) Use them as place settings, particularly charming at Halloween or Thanksgiving dinner Serve them with after-dinner coffee—they can perch on the saucer of the coffee cup

The figs are available in a box of 12. You can combine them in a “tower” gift with 15 pieces of John & Kira’s acclaimed chocolates.

• Add them to the dessert plate, aside or astride a piece of pie, with petit fours or ice cream

We could wax poetic about John & Kira’s calabacitas, but then you won’t have time to order. Quickly! Otherwise, you’ll spend Halloween with a trick instead of this wonderful treat.

— Karen Hochman

FORWARD THIS NIBBLE to anyone who love fine chocolates and confections.

JOHN & KIRA’S Dark Chocolate Ganache Calabacita Figs: Dark Chocolate-Enrobed or White Chocolate Painted “Pumpkins” Chocolate-Covered Figs -or- Fig Pumpkins 12-Piece Box $34.00 Chocolate Fig Tower Chocolate-Covered Figs Plus 15-Piece Chocolate Box* $47.00 *Read our review of John & Kira’s Chocolates. Buy online at JohnAndKiras.com Prices and product availability are verified at publication but are subject to change.   Back to Index

The wooden boxes are reusable: an added bonus.

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