Home › Cold Desserts › Fig and Ginger Pudding
Fig and Ginger Pudding
Cut in tiny pieces one-half pound of crystalized ginger, and one and one-half pounds of figs Dissolve two cups granulated sugar in five cups of water and add one-half teaspoon of powdered ginger root. Place all in a double boiler and simmer slowly all day. The entire mass must form a soft pulp so that the ingredients will scarcely be recognized. Dissolve one-fourth box of gelatine in a little cold water and stir into the mixture while warm. Turn into a wet mold and serve ice cold with whipped cream.
A long-simmered fig conserve set lightly with gelatine — closer to a molded fruit paste than a pudding in the steamed sense. The hinge is the cooking: the fruit must break down completely, or the set will be a syrup with lumps in it.
- "Simmer slowly all day"In a double boiler over gentle heat this means several hours, perhaps four to six, stirring occasionally, until the figs collapse into a thick jammy pulp. A slow cooker on low, lid ajar, does similar work unattended. Stop when a spoon drawn through leaves a track.
- A quarter box of gelatinePeriod box sizes varied and cannot be pinned down exactly; a box is commonly reckoned at about an ounce, four modern ¼-oz envelopes, which would make a quarter box roughly one envelope, about 2¼ teaspoons. Treat the quantity as approximate and judge by the volume of the finished mixture, allowing about 1 envelope per 2 cups for a soft, spoonable set.
- Bloom, then stir in warmSprinkle the gelatine over a few tablespoons of cold water and let it stand five minutes before adding it to the hot fruit. The mixture should be warm, not boiling — prolonged high heat weakens gelatine's setting power.
- Crystallized gingerHalf a pound is a large amount and carries most of the flavor. Use plain crystallized (candied) ginger, not chocolate-coated; chop it fine, since it softens but never fully disappears.
- Powdered ginger rootSimply ground dried ginger from the spice shelf. Half a teaspoon in this quantity is a background warmth, not a dominant note.
- FigsDried figs are meant; Smyrna-type dried figs were the common import in this period, and mission figs work as well. Stem them and quarter them before cooking so they break down evenly.
- The moldRinsing the mold in cold water and leaving it wet is what lets the pudding release; do not oil it. Chill at least 6 hours, or overnight. To turn out, dip the mold briefly in warm water and invert onto a cold plate.
- YieldA large quantity: five cups of water, two cups of sugar and two pounds of fruit, with little evaporation in a double boiler, so expect well over five cups of finished mixture and ten or more servings. It is very sweet, so cut portions small; the recipe does not say whether the cream is sweetened.
The Butterick Cook Book (1911) came from the New York pattern and magazine house whose customers were middle-class women running households without much staff, and its cold-dessert recipes reflect two things newly available to them: packaged gelatine, sold in sheets and granules since the late nineteenth century and cheap enough to use freely, and imported dried fruit and preserved ginger arriving in quantity through the same grocery trade. Crystallized ginger was a Chinese export long carried in ceramic jars and by this date a familiar luxury in American and British kitchens, where it turned up in cakes, puddings and sweetmeats. The all-day simmer belongs to a house with a coal or gas range kept burning anyway — that costs nothing when the stove is already hot and looks extravagant the moment it is not.