THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

FIG PUDDING MYRTLE

1 cup chopped figs

1 cup grated bread

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter

2  – Eggs (2)

1 cup sour milk

½ teaspoon soda

Steam 3 hrs.

~E. Lillian Kelly’s Recipt Book.  Handwritten and untitled.  No exact date given.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• 1 c. finely chopped figs
• 1 c. grated white bread crumbs
• ½ c. butter
• ½ c. granulated sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. sour milk (to make 1 cup of sour milk, add 1 Tb. lemon juice to a measuring cup, and then fill with milk to the 1 cup line)
• ½ tsp. baking soda.

Grease a 4-cup size, oven-proof pudding bowl with butter. If you don’t have a pudding bowl, a glass pyrex bowl or other type of oven-proof bowl will work well too.

Finely chop the figs and measure them.

Grate the bread to form sufficient crumbs to measure 1 cup.

Prepare a covered pot, with a metal grate in the bottom, and fill it with about ½-inch of water. Set this on top of the stove to simmer over low heat, sot that it will be hot and ready to steam the pudding.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and salt with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Beat the eggs lightly with a fork, and add them to the creamed mixture; beat all well together, until light and fluffy.

Add the baking soda to the sour milk, and stir to blend.

Quickly add this liquid to the batter mixture, and beat lightly with the wooden spoon to combine thoroughly.

Gently fold the chopped figs into the batter, until they are distributed evenly.

Then gently fold in the bread crumbs; continue this motion until the crumbs are evenly incorporated.  (Do not be alarmed that the mixture appears curdled!)

Spoon the batter into the buttered pudding bowl, and smooth the surface of the pudding with a broad-bladed knife.

Set the pudding bowl on a rack in the pot, over gently simmering water, and cover with a lid.

Steam the pudding for 3 to 3 ¼ hours, over low heat; replenish the simmering water in the pan periodically, as required.

When cooked, remove the pudding from the kettle, and carefully run a sharp knife around the edge of the pudding, to loosen it from the bowl.  Then invert the bowl onto a heated serving plate, and tap the bottom of the bowl gently, to release the pudding.

Serve the pudding hot; cut it into wedge-shaped slices, and accompany with a sauce, such as a Boiled Custard Sauce, or Brandy Sauce for Plum Pudding.

Yield: 5 or 6 servings.

This simple “Figgy Duff” is a real delight.  It may also be made ahead, frozen, and re-steamed at serving time.

A note from Patricia: This recipe intrigued me because I’ve never had a slice of “Figgy Pudding” before, so out came my pudding bowl once again. However, before I began cooking, I did a little research online to learn more about both Fig Puddings and “Figgy Duffs” as my aunt had mentioned above. Fig Puddings were made as far back as the 1600’s in Britain, and for the wealthy the pudding contained real figs. Poorer people prepared the same recipe with raisins, as figs were too expensive, and over time began referring to raisins as “figgies”. A “Figgy Duff” is a Newfoundland tradition, and is a steamed bread pudding containing raisins (no actual figs are involved). I wonder if perhaps the original recipe from long ago that is noted above truly called for figs or if perhaps using raisins is assumed? Regardless, I used dried figs, and was glad that I did. I chopped them in my food processor, and substituted gluten-free breadcrumbs for the white breadcrumbs required. I covered my pudding bowl in a square of parchment and a square of tin foil, and then tied a string around the lip of the bowl, and then steamed it in my crock pot (that had an inch or so of water in the bottom) for about 4.5 hours on low. I read somewhere that it’s pretty hard to overcook a steamed pudding, so I wasn’t worried about it being in there so long. I whipped up a batch of “Brandy Sauce for Plum Pudding” as it seemed like a good choice (traditional Fig Puddings often contain brandy), and oh boy! Delicious. The pudding was moist and sweet and had the tiny crunch of the fig seeds (ahhhh memories of eating Fig Newtons!), and the sauce was sinfully sweet and buttery. It was really lovely, and felt festive and cozy and comforting.

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;

and a cup of good cheer.

~Traditional Christmas Carol.

Steaming is better than boiling.  Thick earthen dishes are best for baking puddings.

~Parker, Eliza R.  Economical Housekeeping.  Toronto: J.S. Robertson & Bros., 1886.

Add a pinch of salt to all puddings and bake them as soon as mixed.

~Kirk, Alice Gitchell.  The People’s Home Recipe Book (Book II of The People’s Home Library).  Toronto: Imperial Publishing Co., 1916.