Two Figgy Puddings; one modern one traditional

Two Figgy Puddings; one modern one traditional
I Provide, YOU Decide!

MODERN:
You probably remember it from the old Christmas song. Figgy pudding is a spice cake-like souffle made with figs and walnuts. It is moist, delicious, and easy to make.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup molasses
2 cups dried figs (about 1 pound), stems removed, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Garnish: Whipped cream

Preparation:
In an electric mixer, cream the butter until fluffy. Add the eggs and molasses and beat again. Add the figs, lemon peel, buttermilk, and walnuts. Blend 1 minute. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend until everything is incorporated.

Grease and flour and 8 by 4-inch souffle dish and pour in the batter. Bake in a 325-degree F. oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Spoon the pudding out onto plates or cut it into wedges. Garnish with the whipped cream.

Yield: 12 servings

TRADITIONAL:

Traditional Christmas fayre is always a season treat and no Christmas dinner table would be complete without a steaming Christmas pudding for dessert.
Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding
From Tudor times to the Victorian era, Christmas pudding recipes were a little different to today's relatively "light" Christmas puddings.
Figgy Pudding was the Christmas pudding of choice for millions of households in centuries past and, of course, figgy pudding has been immortalised in the popular Christmas carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."

Figgy Pudding Ingredients
To make the perfect figgy pudding, you will require the following ingredients:
8 ounces of breadcrumbs;
8 ounces of dried figs;
 8 ounces of suet;
8 ounces each of sultanas, currants and raisins;
 8 ounces of dark sugar;
4 ounces of candied or mixed peel;
2 ounces of plain flour;
 rind and juice from an orange;
1 teaspoon of mixed spices;
a quarter-pint of Brandy or Rum;
four large eggs;
and a pinch of salt.
This recipe is enough to make two figgy puddings that will each feed eight people. Halve the quantities if you plan to make only one figgy pudding.

How to Make Figgy Pudding
Follow these steps to make a delicious Figgy Pudding for Christmas:
Cook the dried figs in simmering water until they become soft and then mash up the figs with a fork or spoon. Make sure you keep adding water so the pan doesn't boil dry. It can take around 20 to 30 minutes for the figs to soften.

Thoroughly mix all the ingredients together in a large basin or bowl. Add a little milk if you need to make the pudding mix wetter.
Place the figgy pudding mix into two greased pudding basins. Cover them with grease-proof paper and secure the basins with string. Make a string loop to act as a handle. The pudding will expand as it cooks, so leave a little room for this expansion by not filling the pudding basins to the top.

Put the figgy pudding basis in a pan with enough water to fill half-way up the side of the basin. Place on a trivet and then bring it to the boil.
Turn the heat down and let the pudding simmer for eight hours, adding more water whenever necessary.

Wait for the figgy pudding to cool and then place it somewhere dark and cool. Ideally, the pudding should stand for two to three weeks.
On Christmas Day, cook the figgy pudding in the same way but for two hours rather than eight.

Decorate your figgy pudding with something suitably festive, such as holly. Serve by flambeing the figgy pudding in Brandy.
If you've made a second figgy pudding with this recipe, hold it over for New Year's Day or, even better, next Christmas.