Christmas Pudding Baby Hat

You're most likely familiar with the verse "now bring us a figgy pudding..." from the classic Christmas carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." So what exactly is a figgy pudding or a Christmas pudding?

Well, although Americans think of chocolate, vanilla, and tapioca when they thinking of pudding, the term is actually the English term for dessert. Meaning, cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, etc. are all considered pudding. However, Christmas pudding (also referred to as plum pudding or figgy pudding) is a specific cake-like dish made during the holidays.

Pudding recipes contain an assortment of dried fruits, as well as citrus zest and nuts. The mixture of fruits and nuts is held together with a mixture of eggs, breadcrumbs, and suet (beef or mutton fat).

The mixture is pressed into a bowl, covered with parchment, and steamed in a pot on the stove for hours and hours until cooked. A conventional Christmas pudding can take upwards of 8 hours to steam on the stove-top.

The use of dried fruits dates back to Roman times. The British version of Christmas pudding dates back to the Medieval times, but they became most popular in the Victorian era when cooks learned to preserve dried fruits and meats for the winter months. Meats and fruits were combined to create mince pies - the precursor to Christmas puddings.

Source: "Christmas Pudding: What Is It, Anyway?" from huffingtonpost.com