Authentic Christmas Pudding Figgy Pudding Food

FIGGY CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Steps:

• Butter a 500ml, a 1-litre and a 2-litre pudding bowl, then line the base of each with a circle of baking parchment. Butter 3 large sheets of greaseproof paper, lay each on a large sheet of foil butter side up, and fold a pleat in the middle of each.
• Roughly chop 250g of the figs and set aside. Put the remaining figs, butter and brandy into a food processor and whizz until smooth-ish, then scrape into your largest mixing bowl. Tip in the chopped figs, mixed vine fruits, grated apple, sugars, breadcrumbs, flour and allspice. Stir everything together, allowing as many helpers to give a stir and adding as many wishes as you like. Divide between the pudding bowls and smooth the surfaces.
• Cover the puds with the buttered paper-foil sheets, tie with string and trim. Lower the puds into separate saucepans with upturned saucers or scrunched up bits of foil in the bottom (so the puds don't touch the bottom), then fill each pan with enough boiling water from the kettle to come halfway up the sides of the bowl. Cover with a lid and simmer the small pud for 1-1½ hrs, medium for 2-2½ hrs and large for 3 hrs, topping up the water as needed. Remove and leave to cool. If giving as a gift, put a new piece of parchment on top. Will keep in a cool, dry cupboard for up to a year.

AUTHENTIC CHRISTMAS PUDDING (FIGGY PUDDING)

Steps:

• Place the raisins, sultanas, currants, almonds, and candied citrus peel in a bowl. Pour the brandy over and stir to combine the mixture. Cover and let sit overnight to allow the brandy to fully penetrate the fruit.
• The next day, place the breadcrumbs, flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and spices in a bowl and stir to combine.In another bowl add the soaked dried fruit mixture, grated apple, black treacle, suet, lemon and orange zest, and egg. Stir to combine.Add the dry mixture to the fruit mixture and stir to thoroughly combine it. It will be thick and sticky.Generously butter your pudding mold (2 liter/3.5 pints mold) and scoop the batter into the mold, pressing down and smoothing the top.Cut a circle out of parchment paper the same diameter as the top of the pudding mold. Lightly butter the paper and place it, butter side down, on top of the batter. Next tear off two more pieces of parchment paper large enough to cover the to of the pudding mold and partially down the sides of the mold. If your pudding mold is small and the batter comes to the top of it, fold a pleat in the center of the parchment papers to allow room for expansion as the pudding cooks. Trim off excess paper.Secure the paper by folding down the sides and tying securely with a string (to make it easier you can secure it first with a rubber band while you're tying it and then remove the rubber band).Note: If your mold comes with a lid as mine does, I still like to adda layer of parchment paper before securing the lid.Bring a large pot of water to a very low simmer. Place a folded cloth or trivet on the bottom of the pot to prevent the pudding mold from coming in direct contact with the pot in order to prevent scorching.Lower the pudding mold down into the water on top of the folded cloth. The water level should come up to the halfway point of the pudding mold. Cover the pot with the lid.Steam the pudding over very low heat for approximately 8 hours. Check periodically to ensure the water level is still at the halfway point and add more water as needed.The longer the pudding steams the darker in color it will become.
• When the pudding is done steaming, carefully lift out the pudding mold and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then invert the pudding on a plate. Let it sit until the pudding slides out onto the plate. Let the pudding cool completely.To store, remove the parchment paper and wrap the pudding with clean parchment paper followed by aluminum foil. Wrap tightly. Store it in a cool, dark place, preferably a basement. If you do not have a cool, dark environment in your home you can keep it in the fridge but make sure it is tightly wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and some aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out. Follow these same guidelines along with placing the pudding in a ziplock freezer bag to freeze the pudding. When you're ready to serve the pudding you will need to reheat it either by re-steaming it for 30-60 minutes or until heated through or you can also microwave it in a microwave safe container to keep the moisture in.You can light the pudding on fire just before serving (see blog post section on how to light a pudding) and then serve with Hard Sauce (i.e., brandy butter) or powdered sugar, whipped cream, vanilla custard, ice cream, or lemon sauce.

FIGGY PUDDING RECIPE

Steps:

• Directions:Put oven on preheat to 325 degrees F.Sieve flour and keep aside until required. Grease and flour 9-inch diameter baking pan.Mix chopped dates and chopped figs in a bowl. Heat water in a saucepan until it starts to boil and pour it over dates and figs in a bowl. Stir in baking soda and keep aside to cool for 7-10 minutes.Transfer date and fig mixture to blender, add brandy and make a puree.Take another bowl, beat butter and sugar in it until smooth. Add eggs and beat again until fluffy and light.Fold in the flour, breadcrumbs, ground nutmeg, grated orange zest, pureed date and fig mixture and grated dark chocolate.Pour prepared batter in a greased baking pan and place it in a preheated oven.Bake until pudding is perfectly set or for around an hour. To verify if pudding is fully backed or not, insert the toothpick in center and check if it comes out clean. If it does, then it is properly cooked otherwise cook it more for 5-10 minutes.After verifying that it is perfectly cooked, take out backing pan from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes.Turn out the prepared figgy pudding onto a serving plate and serve with cream or ice cream.

FIGGY PUDDING

Steps:

• Gently heat buttermilk and figs in a saucepan over medium-low heat until softened, 10 to 15 minutes; set aside until cool.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a tube pan.
• Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl.
• Beat eggs in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer on high for 1 minute. Add fig-and-buttermilk mixture, bread crumbs, butter, almonds, orange marmalade, orange zest, and orange-vanilla flavoring to the beaten eggs; beat on low speed until blended. Gradually add flour mixture while beating until just incorporated into a batter. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Grease a sheet of aluminum foil; use to cover pan.
• Bake in preheated oven until firm and pulling away from sides of the pan, about 2 hours. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

WE WANT SOME FIGGY PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Grease a 9-inch tube pan.
• Beat butter until soft.
• Add eggs and molasses and beat till fluffy.
• Add chopped figs (try to use good quality figs), grated lemon rind, and buttermilk.
• In another bowl combine all the rest of the ingredients (all dry ingredients).
• Pour dry ingredients into fig mixture and stir well.
• Pour into tube pan and cook for about an hour or until toothpick comes out pretty clean.
• After about 15 minutes, try to dislodge cake and put out onto a baking rack.
• Soak enough cheese cloth to go around the cake a couple times in brandy.
• When cake is cool, wrap it up well and soak for 24 hours.
• Serve with hard sauce.