These mini figgy puddings are packed with dried fruit, warming spices and bourbon, and served with a delicious warm caramel sauce. We make them in mini bundt cake tins, but muffin tins work, too! Give these a try for a unique Christmas dessert.
Have you ever listened to "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and wondered: what actually is a figgy pudding? Well, we have! So this year, we set out to make our own, with a few twists.
Traditional figgy pudding is a British steamed pudding that's packed with dried fruits, alcohol (like brandy) and warm spices. It's often served flambรฉed with more brandy and topped with custard or cream.
We made ours mini (in mini bundt tins), used bourbon instead of brandy, and served them with some vanilla ice cream and warm caramel sauce. The base recipe stays true to the steamed pudding texture, but with a few "Americanized" additions that we think taste pretty good!
Don't be intimidated by this recipe! It looks extremely complicated and has a lot of ingredients, but it's not much more difficult than mixing up a traditional cake batter. This recipe is such a fun way to try something new for Christmas!
This recipe is part of ourย 2025 Recipe Advent Calendar. If you missed the first few days, try our Cranberry White Chocolate Tart or Sausage Roll Wreath next!
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Ingredient Highlights
- Tea: We use Earl Grey tea to rehydrate the dried fruits, but any black tea will do.
- Dried fruit: We use a combination of dried figs, dates, candied orange peel and golden raisins. You can also use sultanas, dried apricots, dried currants or dried cherries.
- Butter & shortening: Beef suet is traditionally used in the British version, but vegetable shortening works well as a substitute.
- Bourbon: Traditionally, brandy or dark rum are used, but we use bourbon instead.
- Walnuts: Feel free to substitute with pecans, or leave them out altogether for a nut free version.
- Breadcrumbs: These are traditionally used to soak up the moisture from the fruit and liquids. It makes the texture a little lighter than a fruit cake, and more similar to a bread pudding. Fresh breadcrumbs are great, but we use panko breadcrumbs in a pinch.
How To Make This Recipe
Brew the tea, then pour it over the chopped figs, dates, candied orange and raisins. Cover and let it sit to soak up the liquid for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.
In a large bowl, add the eggs and brown sugar and whisk or use an electric hand mixer, mixing until smooth.
Add in the grated apple, lemon juice and zest, orange juice and zest, bourbon, vanilla extract, the soaked fruit (and any extra liquid) and walnuts. Mix to combine.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the breadcrumbs, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger and nutmeg.
Grate the frozen butter and shortening directly into the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to mix it into the dry ingredients thoroughly and break up any clumps.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined, but be careful not to over-mix. Work quickly โ donโt let the batter sit out too long and get too warm.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan or muffin tin, leaving about ยผ inch of room at the top.
Carefully (close to your oven), fill both of the 9x13 baking dishes with 1 inch of boiling water. Set the bundt cake tin or muffin tin directly on top of the baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil to trap in the steam.
Bake for 55-65 minutes at 350หF. (If using a muffin tin, start checking for doneness at 45 minutes.) You know they are done when the internal temperature reaches between 200-210หF. Let them cool in the pan until it's cool enough to touch, then run a knife around the edges to loosen before flipping them out on to a cooling rack.
Storage
Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container, or wrapped well, in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. (Keep the caramel sauce stored separately.)
You can reheat individual portions in the microwave on half power for a minute or two until warmed through.
Lexi & Beth's Top Tips
- Tightly cover both the bundt cake pan as well as the pan with the water underneath with aluminum foil to trap in the steam. This is how figgy pudding gets its dense, moist texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but the bake time will be longer. Place the bundt cake pan in another, larger roasting pan that's filled with at least 1 inch of very hot water and cover with aluminum foil. It will take between 1-2 hours to bake. It's done when a skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
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๐ Recipe
Mini Figgy Puddings
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
These mini figgy puddings are packed with dried fruit, warming spices and bourbon, and served with a delicious warm caramel sauce. We make them in mini bundt cake tins, but muffin tins work, too! Give these a try for a unique Christmas dessert.ย
Ingredients
Figgy Puddings:
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags, steeped in 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup diced dried figs
- 1 cup pitted, diced dates
- ยฝ cup diced candied orange peel or apricots
- ยฝ cup golden raisins
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
- ยผ cup vegetable shortening, frozen
- 2 eggs
- โ cup light brown sugar
- 1 medium apple, grated (we like honeycrisp)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest + 1 tablespoon orange juice
- ยฝ cup bourbon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ยฝ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ยฝ teaspoon ground allspice
- ยฝ teaspoon ground cloves
- ยฝ teaspoon ground ginger
- ยฝ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Caramel Sauce:
- 1 cup salted butter
- ยพ cup brown sugar
- ยพ cup sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Salt to taste
- Optional (for serving): vanilla ice cream
Instructions
2+ hours before baking:
- Brew the tea, then pour it over the chopped figs, dates, candied orange and raisins. Cover and let it sit to soak up the liquid for at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.ย
- Place butter and shortening in the freezer.
Make puddings:
- Preheat oven to 350หF/175หC. Grease 2 mini bundt pan tins or muffin tins. Set aside two 9x13 pans (or any pan that is big enough to fit underneath the bundt pan or muffin tin).
- In a large bowl, add the eggs and brown sugar and whisk or use an electric hand mixer, mixing until smooth.
- Add in the grated apple, lemon juice and zest, orange juice and zest, bourbon, vanilla extract, the soaked fruit (and any extra liquid) and walnuts. Mix to combine.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the breadcrumbs, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger and nutmeg.
- Grate the frozen butter and shortening directly into the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to mix it into the dry ingredients thoroughly and break up any clumps.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well combined, but be careful not to over-mix. Work quickly โ donโt let the batter sit out too long and get too warm.
- Pour the batter into the bundt pan or muffin tin, leaving about ยผ inch of room at the top.ย
- Carefully (close to your oven), fill both of the 9x13 baking dishes with 1 inch of very hot water. Set the bundt cake tin or muffin tin directly on top of the baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminum foil to trap in the steam.ย
- Bake for 55-65 minutes. (If using a muffin tin, start checking for doneness at 45 minutes.) You know they are done when the internal temperature reaches between 200-210หF. Let them cool in the pan until it's cool enough to touch, then run a knife around the edges to loosen before flipping them out on to a cooling rack.
Make Caramel Sauce:
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add both sugars, whisk well and simmer until the sugar is melted.
- Add the cream and bourbon and continue to simmer for 4-6 minutes, until the caramel is golden brown and thick.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and salt. Serve warm over the figgy puddings with vanilla ice cream (optional).
Notes
Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container, or wrapped well, in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. (Keep the caramel sauce stored separately.)ย
You can reheat individual portions in the microwave on half power for a minute or two until warmed through.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: British
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 mini bundt cake
- Calories: 666
- Sugar: 56.6 g
- Sodium: 330.4 mg
- Fat: 32.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 84.9 g
- Fiber: 5.3 g
- Protein: 6.9 g
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