Figgy Cranberry Pudding

"Now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding, and bring it right here. We won't go until we get some, we won't go until we get some..."

Have you ever noticed how bossy Christmas songs are? YOU WILL ENJOY CHRISTMAS AND YOU WILL FEED US. What is figgy pudding anyway? Figgy pudding is a tradtional sweet bread or fruit cake in Britain dating back to atleast the 16th century. Most traditionally steamed, they are now baked in a variety of flavors like Christmas Pudding, plum pudding etc.

In my desire to preserve tradition and retain some history, I decided to try figgy pudding. The only figs I could find were extremely pricey dried organic figs that were almost candied. To really bring in some flavor and modernize it a bit, I decided to add some dried cranberries as well and sweeten it with some brown sugar to cut the heavy molasses. Topped it with fresh whipped cream sweetened with confectioners sugar and cinnamon and it was a delightful end to Christmas day. Unfortunately you will have to take my word for it as I forgot to take a picture.

While I don't consider this experiment in history a failure, I'm not sure figs and I are friends. I think I prefer the tradition of gingerbread and peppermint at this time of year! Figs and molasses are a rich DARK taste, like what dark chocolate is to milk chocolate. I'm more of a milk chocolate girl.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
2 cups chopped dried figs
1 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup pecans (Chopped)
2 1/2 cups self rising flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Dash ground cloves

Directions:
Cream butter and sugars. Add molasses, buttermilk and eggs. Slowly add rest of ingredients (minus figs, pecans and cranberries). Fold in fruits and nuts. Pour into a greased 8 x 4 souffle dish. Bake at 325 for one hour. Let cool. Spoon out like pudding or cut into wedges. Center will be quite moist and may fall. I served up like a pudding.