Goat Cheese and Fig Quick Bread Recipe (2024)

Slicing soft goat cheese can be easily done with unwaxed dental floss.

We make a version of this in our (French) household often, with corn and chrorizo. Delish and hearty enough for a lazy dinner.

(Sorry if this shows up twice): Yes, just throw in a half-cup of corn or so, along with some chopped up charcuterie sausage, instead of fig and chevre. We also add a handful of shredded emmental cheese, but any will be good: cheddar, jack, etc. Try blue, or mix! As long as you have the flour/egg/oil ratio right, this is really one of those whatevers-in-the-pantry kind of recipes.

Mecko: May we have the corn and chorizo recipe?

A tip that I learned working in restaurant kitchens in the 80's when goat cheese was a novelty: to slice goat cheese neatly place your knife blade in a glass of hot water. When the knife is warm -- without drying the blade -- slice two or three pieces of the goat cheese, wipe off your knife and let it heat up in the hot water again. Repeat.

I used grated manchego as I didn't have any goat cheese. After baking, I sprinkled the remaining shredded cheese on top and put it under the broiler for 3 minutes, giving it a crispy, cheesy crust. Delicious!

My French aunt used to serve something quite like this. Instead of figs and goat cheese, she would put lardons (cubed bacon), green olives and gruyère. And her secret ingredient: a glass of white wine!

Just made this, and in the spirit of the article, I riffed with what I had on hand... goat cheese, currants, pistachio, flat leaf parsley, lemon zest. The savory cake was quite moist and delicious and we would definitely make this again. The freshly cracked black pepper in the recipe hit just the right savory note. This was minutes to put together and a good way to clean out odds and ends from the fridge.

why get cranky trying to cut goat cheese logs, just crumble with fingers and lick fingers afterwards! And although figs are fancy, us mountain folk can rarely find them so I suggest apples chopped in little cubes. Mmmm!

Five stars. Really good and really easy and looks easily adaptable. Only changes I made were to crumble the goat cheese (easier) and a bit more orange zest (because it's orange zest !!!) Wrapped well it was just as good on day 2, and since only 2 of us I've frozen remaining half for next month. Strongly recommend it with a vermouth & soda with a big orange wedge (because, well, Oranges!).

Substituted oregano, white cheddar and kalamata olives for the herbs, figs and chèvre in this recipe. Delicious and easy to throw together. I’ll be using this recipe again.

Looks like a keeper. Oh, Dorie, you wrote my two favorite French words in your article, Monoprix and Picard. I still use the tote bags from those stores. They remind me of the delicious meals I made in my VRBO apartment with the items from those stores. I’ll reminisce as I share a nibble on the cakes with my friends.

I dream of one day a Picard store popping up on a local corner here in the US. The best kept secret in France and hands down the best frozen food I have ever eaten. The best.

Why not try Jess' suggestion: sub white wine for milk. If alcohol is an issue try de-alcoholized wine, a nut milk, or even just water. Instead of goat cheese, maybe one of the commercial soft vegan cheeses? Or stir in a quarter cup of nutritional yeast, which lends a cheesy savouriness. Or use a quarter to half cup of roughly chopped or broken nuts instead of cheese: hazelnuts, almonds & walnuts go great with figs & herbs. As Dorie's article indicates, this recipe is open to experimentation :)

I used dates instead of figs and added some crumbled bacon. It tasted like a bacon-wrapped date. No complaints here.

Usually love Dorie's recipes, but this was surprisingly bland considering how many delicious ingredients are in the recipe.

Have made this bread many times. Also using Bernard Clayton's recipe. For my money Goat Cheese adds acidity and creaminess, but not much flavor. I add ham and/or salami and Gruyere chunks and sometimes wine instead of milk. Sometimes dried apricot chunks and sometimes Parm or Pecorino chunks. Yum

Made according to recipe with no substitutions and it came out well. Sliced the loaf as shown in photo. Everyone loved it. However, I thought the overall prep time was excessive—too many ingredients required chopping, reducing the likelihood that I will make it again.

Surprisingly lowish in flavor considering the ingredient list. Just OK

Only change would be to line the bottom with parchment paper next time-- loaf broke a little as I removed it. Did not find the loaf to be dry at all as some other reviews have mentioned. Perfectly moist and delicious.Made with what I had on hand, Goat cheese (put in freezer for 30 then crumbled by hand), fresh basil, dried thyme, dates, and clementine zest. Will return to this recipe with whatever I have on hand.

Does anyone know if this can be frozen, like the savory Dorie recipe more recently posted?

Quite good. I made quick work of cutting the goat cheese with kitchen scissors - just kept turning the chunk in my hand as I snipped off corners.

Just use crumbled goat cheese

I wanted to love this, but was disappointed. So many of the ingredients are lovely, but somehow they never came together, and the loaf turned out to be dry and surprisingly flavorless -- and I was using herbs right out of the garden. I am tempted to try again just because Dorie's recipes are usually so reliable, but if I strike out again, then I'll have to write this one off. Too bad.

I made these accidentally with fresh figs instead of dried and used apricot Stilton in place of chèvre. It had great flavors but turned out a bit dry.

I made this with 1 cup of AP GF flour and about 1 cup of almond flour. I used basil & dill because I didn't have the other herbs. I used lemon zest because I had no tangerines. I also substituted date syrup for the honey because I was out of honey. It was a big hit with my lunch group today!

Freeze the goat cheese for an hour - makes slicing easier.

Delicious. May up the black pepper next time. I varied this using French feta (obviously more mild and a tad creamier than Greek), fresh chives, oregano, parsley, grated lemon zest, and golden raisins.

Rosemary - one sprig = 1.5 tsp

Freeze the goal cheese before you cut it.