Figgy Pudding

Figgy Pudding is not just a made up food sung about in a popular Christmas carol, it is actually a real traditional Christmas dessert. Every year at Christmastime, my grandfather asks for figgy pudding, so this year I decided to make it for him. I had never had figgy pudding before, so I didn't really know what to expect, or have any ideas of what figgy pudding 'should' be like. There are many many recipes for figgy pudding to be found online, but for my first attempt, I decided to stick with a fairly basic and easy recipe. Normally figgy pudding is baked in a large bundt or tube pan, but I decided to make mini figgy puddings. I used a special mini cake pan to give the figgy puddings an attractive appearance. I made six of them, and I poured the leftover batter into six muffin cups to make small figgy pudding muffins. This worked out quite well, they baked very nicely and in half of the time as one large figgy pudding would. The muffins took slightly less time to bake than the mini cakes.

Most figgy pudding recipes begin with figs, of course, and also contain molasses, spices, eggs, butter, flour, and milk. Some recipes contain other fruit additions, such as raisins, dates, and even chopped cherries. Some contain nuts or chocolate. Some use dry breadcrumbs instead of flour. I even came across one recipe that was made with pumpkin puree. The recipe I used was fairly basic, and used figs and raisins. Figgy pudding is also commonly served with a pouring sauce, usually a custard sauce or a hard sauce, often flavored with dark rum. Although figgy pudding is very good on its own, sauce takes it to another dimension.  

Figgy Pudding
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 cup molasses
2 cups total chopped figs and raisins
(I used about 1 1/4 cups figs and 3/4 cup raisins)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon rind (optional)
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 325◦F. Grease a 9-inch tube pan or miniature cake pans or muffin cups.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until soft. Add the eggs and molasses and beat until fluffy. Add figs, raisins, lemon rind, and buttermilk.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients. Add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared pan(s). 

Bake large cake for about an hour or small cakes for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out pretty clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling.