Figgy Pudding: A Great Recipe for a Christmas Tradition

Figgy pudding is another name for Christmas pudding. There are a couple of different ways to make it but it is actually more of a cake than what most people think of a pudding. It is an older recipe dating as far back as the 15th century but lost popularity during the 19th century because of the ingredients and the excessively long time to prepare and there is a large amount of saturated animal fats used in the recipe making it a less popular dish when it comes to traditional Christmas dishes.

The majority of recipes for figgy pudding are going to consist of anywhere from 3-4 hours worth of steaming. This is how the cake or pudding is cooked. You place a bowl, metal is normally used, with the mixture in it into a larger bowl which is part way filled with boiling water. The indirect heat causes a slow but even cooking.

The recipe usually consists of a carrot cake like base and custard. Figs are chopped and added for texture as well as dates and even apples. You may also find cream, eggs, sugar, liqueurs, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. The more traditional recipes call for suet, which is animal fat that comes from deposits near the kidneys. Butter can be used to substitute suet if necessary.

Recipe for Figgy Pudding

1/2 C Butter

1/2 C Vegetable Shortening

1 C Granulated sugar

3 Large Egg Yolks

1 C Milk

2 Tbsp rum extract

1 Apple peeled, cored and chopped

1 lb Dried Figs ground or chopped

1 peel of a lemon and 1 of an orange Grated

1 C chopped nuts

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground Cloves

1/4 tsp Ginger

1 1/2 C bread crumbs

2 tsp backing powder

3 large egg whites beaten till stiff

Directions

Blend butter and shortening together until creamed. Add sugar gradually mixing in Add egg yolks then milk and extract, mix together. Add lemon and orange zest then the figs and the apple. Then add the bread crumbs, nuts and the baking powder followed by the cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Finally add the egg whites using a folding method rather than a stirring. Pour ingredients into a greased bowl you can use Pyrex instead of metal. In this recipe pour boiling water into a pain place the bowl into the pan and put in the oven at 325 degrees for 4 hours. It should come out after cooling moist and soft on the inside with a crusty outside.

This is just one recipe there are plenty of variations available in cook books and online. This recipe does take some work and may require several tries to get it right. In fact, Figgy Pudding was considered the mark of a cook. You can also include a sauce for over the top.

Instead of a Pyrex bowl you can also substitute cake or baking pans in a variety of holiday shapes to create individual or specialty puddings if so desired.