O Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding

Have you ever wonder what the heck was Figgy Pudding?  It must have been good because the next verse in the song is "We won't go until we get some!"  Well, if they were in my house, they would be here for a very long time!  So out of curiosity, I did a search on Figgy Pudding and, much to my amazement, there is such a creature!!  It is a traditional steamed English pudding that is usually served during the Christmas holiday.

Traditional Figgy Pudding is similar to spice cake made with ground or chopped dried figs (obviously) and usually is served with custard sauce.  If you can't find dried figs, you can substitute dried dates.  You can always use whipped cream in place of the custard sauce.  The traditional version uses walnuts, but I think any type of nut would work, except peanuts.

Traditional Figgy Pudding

Ingredients
½ cup butter (at room temperature)
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons rum extract (or flavored extract of your choice)
1 apple, peeled and cored and finely chopped
1 pound dried figs, ground or finely chopped
Grated peel of 1 lemon and 1 orange
1 cup chopped nuts
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 ½ cups dried bread crumbs
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 large egg whites, stiffly beaten

Custard Sauce

Ingredients
2 cups milk
1 large egg
¾ cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Generously grease an oven-proof 2-quart bowl or mold; set aside.

Cream together butter and shortening. Gradually add sugar, egg yolks, milk, extract, apple, figs, lemon and orange peel. Add next 6 ingredients, mixing well. Fold stiffly beaten egg whites into mixture.

Pour into prepared bowl or mold and place into large shallow pan and place on middle rack in oven. Fill the shallow pan half-full with boiling water and slowly steam pudding in oven at 325°F (160°C) for 4 hours, replacing water as needed.

For Custard Sauce: In saucepan, scald milk and allow to cool.

Mix together remaining ingredients, except for butter. Add to cooled milk. Cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter, mixing well.

Serve pudding warm with custard sauce or sweetened whipped cream. Store unused portions in refrigerator.

Makes 12 servings.

So the next time people show up at your doorstep singing "Bring me some figgy pudding" -  now you can!!