PANCAKES WITH PEARS CARAMELIZED IN FIG PRESERVES + ORANGE HONEY TARRAGON BUTTER
Wow, two of the first five recipes I’ve written here on Allspice & Ally use fig preserves.
You’d think I’d be a huge fan of figs but you’d be wrong. I’ve never actually tasted a fresh fig…
My mom used to give me store bought fig bars for snack time during Chinese School. Nine year-old me used to buy 50¢ Pringles from the snack cart instead.
And I’m not alone. Last time I reminisced about fig bars and Chinese School aloud, my brother exclaimed fig bars are not cookies! with more emotion than he usually expresses about most things.
Sorry mom, neither of your offspring appreciated the snacks.
I still don’t love fig bars but I do enjoy these fluffy pancakes. Served with pears caramelized in fig preserves and orange honey butter, they’ll start you off to a great weekend.
Perfect for breakfast in bed or brunch with guests, these pancakes seem luxurious but they’re simple to make. And if you make the orange honey butter the night before, you can whip up a batch of these pancakes in a jiffy —without jiffy mix!
Extra credit if you top these pancakes with sweetened whipped ricotta.
Do you have to top these pancakes with sweetened whipped ricotta? No.
Do you want to? Of course you do.


Author: Allspice & Ally
Recipe Type: Pancakes
Cook Time: 15+ minutes
Makes 8 to 11 pancakes
Topped with pears caramelized in fig preserves and a slab of orange-honey-tarragon butter, these fluffy buttermilk pancakes are perfect for a luxurious weekend breakfast. Try them with sweetened ricotta for a treat!
Pancake Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Caramelized Pear Ingredients
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 can of sliced bartlett pears (packed in pear juice, not syrup)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup fig preserves
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Orange-Honey-Tarragon Butter Ingredients
1 tablespoon honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Zest of 1 orange
Pinch of dried tarragon
Instructions
- With an electric mixer, cream half a stick of softened butter with honey and orange zest.
- Add a pinch of tarragon and combine.
- On a sheet of wax paper, spoon butter mixture into a cylinder.
- Roll wax paper around the butter to form a log.
- Chill in the refrigerator until hardened.
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Add a can of drained pears. Reserve the liquid.
- Let the pears sizzle for 2 minutes then add 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/4 cup reserved pear juice, 1/4 cup fig preserves and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Stirring occasionally, simmer gently for about 5 minutes. The pears should be tender with a caramelized exterior.
- Reduce heat to low. (Alternatively, remove from heat then quickly reheat after the pancakes are cooked.)
- In a separate bowl or glass measuring cup, beat together egg, buttermilk and oil.
- Fold the egg mixture into the dry ingredients.
- On a lightly oiled griddle pan, cook pancakes for 3 to 4 minutes over medium-low heat. Flip and cook another 2 to 3 minutes.
- Serve pancakes with pears and a liberal slab of compound butter.
Pairs Well With
Hints
* If you don’t have buttermilk, use 1/3 cup plain non-fat yogurt in 2/3 cup skim milk.
* If you don’t have white whole wheat flour, do not substitute regular whole wheat flour. Just use an entire cup of all-purpose flour.
* Want to experiment with herbs? Try using rosemary instead of tarragon in the butter.
* Forgot to make the compound butter ahead of time? Instead of chilling it in the refrigerator for a few hours, place it in the freezer. It should harden in about 30 minutes.
* Try topping this dish with sweetened ricotta. Use an electric mixer to beat 1/2 cup of part-skim ricotta with 1 to 2 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
Pancakes with pears and ricotta? Yum.
* Need to use up leftover fig preserves? Try making this mac ‘n cheese with leeks caramelized in fig preserves.
* To recreate the pancakes photographed above, spread a generous layer of compound butter on each pancake. Top your stack of pancakes with pears and a spoonful of sweetened ricotta. Garnish with orange zest.