What in the heck is figgy pudding anyhow? It's mentioned in
Little Drummer Boy, my contribution to the boxed set
Love, Christmas – Holiday Stories That Will Put a Song in Your Heart, but I never tasted it. Since I needed to write a blog about food, I figured I'd put in a little test time in the kitchen.
If you’ve already read LDB, or any of my books, you know about Evie, a time traveler from the 21st century who has chosen to remain in the 1780s. In Little Drummer Boy, she is trying to learn about 18th century Christmas traditions. One of her challenges is preparing figgy pudding.
“My first attempt at figgy pudding was flat, but sweet. It may not have been pretty, but there weren’t any leftovers, either.”
Figs,
grapes (raisins), apples, and cranberries grow in North Carolina, and
Evie's father-in-law, Julian, is generous and well-traveled, so she
probably had a well-stocked spice cabinet, too. I didn't have cloves, so
substituted coriander. Maybe she did the same thing. I forgot to ask.
One
thing that bothers me (and many others, I’m sure) is an author’s lack
of research about period life. Did you know that in the 1780s there was
no such thing as baking powder or baking soda? That's why they ate
bannocks instead of nice, fluffy biscuits.
Evie has something others
in her era do not, though. When her eldest daughter traveled back to
the 18th century to be with her (full story in
Aye, I am a Fairy),
one of the items she brought back to share with Mom was baking soda.
Great for brushing teeth and making cookies. Evie decides to try a bit
of it in her second attempt at figgy pudding.
I had to do a little
experimenting, too. I gave up wheat (gluten) and refined sugars, so
minor adjustments to the online recipes I found and combined had to be
made.
Note: You can make this version sweeter by adding some brown
sugar (1/2 - 1 cup) if you’d like. You can also use regular wheat
(white or unbleached) flour and bread instead of the gluten-free
varieties. I didn't have any rum or brandy to add to it, but will
'splash and flame' it before eating my second serving. I'll top it with
whipped cream and make it even more special.
FRUIT
*¼ cup raisins
*¼ cup dried cranberries (Craisins®)
*...Re-hydrate these in a cup of very hot water. Drain and let cool.
¼- ½ cup pared and chopped apples (I used Golden Delicious from my yard)
2 cups fig spread (I made my own from fresh figs. You can reconstitute
dried ones by cooking about a cup of figs with a cup of water until
pulpy, then mash the heck out of them. Sometimes fig spread is available
in specialty stores or make your own from cooking down and mashing
fresh figs).
DRY INGREDIENTS
1 ¼ cup flour or gluten-free baking mix
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp coriander (or cloves)
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
Mix these dry ingredients in separate bowl.
½ cup melted unsalted butter
3 large eggs, gently beaten
2 cups bread crumbs, any kind of bread, including gluten-free
varieties. I use my Magic Bullet® to make mine, but a blender or food
processor should work, too.
LAST & DON’T FORGET THIS ITEM:
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Add
the dry ingredients and fruit to the bread crumbs, eggs, and melted
butter. When all is mixed together, add two tablespoons of apple cider
vinegar. This is what makes the batter rise! Stir well, then spoon into
buttered (or oiled or use that spray stuff) bundt pan, mini muffin tins
or glass/ceramic cups.
CONTAINER OPTIONS:
Traditional figgy pudding is steamed. You
could
put the batter in a bundt pan, cover with foil, and then put that pan
in another pan, stick the works in the oven for an hour or so, hopefully
remembering to add water to the bigger pan as it gets cooked away...
Sorry, folks, I didn’t try that way. Too much chance of getting burned:
either the pudding or me or both. The steaming procedures on other
recipes looked too complicated, so I didn’t bother. Besides, my batter
was made with baking soda and vinegar for leavening, not baking powder.
Once again, I'd experiment and find another way.
1)
Stove top. This was easy, but I was only able to put a generous one cup
of batter in the ‘chili and chowder’ mug that I used for the actual
steaming. You could use a bundt pan or metal bowl and put it in a big
canning pot OR cook leftover batter in a different way (see next
variation). When you steam my way, fill the pan/bowl/cup of batter to a
little more than half full. Put this container into a pan on the stove
top. I used my 40-year-old two-part aluminum steamer pot. Fill with
water to about half way up the side of the pan/bowl/cup. Cover, bring to
a boil, and then let it simmer (make steam) for about an hour. When a
sharp knife stuck in the pudding comes out clean, it's done.
2)
Oven ‘Mookies.’ Both quick and easy. I amply filled a well-greased mini
muffin tins with batter and cooked it at 350 degrees for 16 minutes.
When they had cooled down but were still warm, I used a table knife to
urge them out of the pan. Place on cooling rack.
These were so
cute and fast! I started calling anything I baked this way a Mookie: not
big enough to be a muffin, but bigger and moister than a cookie. It
works great with the baking soda and apple cider vinegar combination.
The
picture above is the Mookies surrounding the steamed pudding. Flaming
the works and then adding the whipped cream would make a better photo,
but I'm the only one around to eat this today, so I'll wait until the
crowd is back.
What other foods are mentioned in
Little Drummer Boy? Find out more about Scout and 18th century Christmas traditions and trials in
Love, Christmas - Holiday Stories That Will Put a Song in Your Heart.
Normally, I prefer to use non-stick aluminum. It’s pretty pricey and the
sheet is narrower, but it’s perfect for sticky stuff like nachos. For this
recipe, the wide, heavy duty (and less expensive per foot) foil is better. It’s
easier to make baking packets for the food with it.
Finally: the meat. I
took the lazy way out. I had a large can of pulled pork. It tastes like ham to
me. If I had chopped or sliced ham (or Spam), I could have used any of those.
