Instant Pot Figgy Pudding Recipe

What follows, is my adaptation (for high-altitude of about 5,300’ where notated) and other adjustments I found necessary after my trial run with Jo’s wonderful Christmas Pudding recipe at EveryNookAndCranny. You might find you need to make further adjustments. Just Have Fun!

~Something to consider ahead of time—You’ll need some sort of “oven-proof” bowl (or “pudding basin” as the British call it) that fits into your Instant Pot—for cooking the pudding in (see step 5). I used a simple, stainless steel mixing-bowl that measured just under 7 inches across. I tested ahead of time, to make sure it fits into my Instant Pot and on to the trivet. It’s a 1½ quart bowl—perfect for this.
You will also need parchment paper and aluminum foil, and some string or a large rubber band.

If you use a ceramic bowl, you’ll probably need to add another 5-10 minutes to your cooking time. Jo says it’s hard to “overcook” a Christmas pudding—so good to know!

Ingredients:

~First step:
AHEAD OF TIME–Decide which dried fruits you’d like to include. Measure them out dry.

1 1/3 cups dried fruit* Combine a few like figs, cranberries, raisins, pineapple, blueberries…
1/3 cup dried dates (about 1.8 ounces)
3-4 Tbsp. candied ginger

And soak them… (in liqueur or strong tea—at least overnight, but a week or two would be great.)

~Next step:
1/3 cup softened butter (I messed-up & I used a bit more, one stick. But it was great!)
3/8 cup dark brown sugar
     Mix them together until smooth. Then add…
2 eggs

~Then add…
1/3 cup chopped pecans**
5-6 Tbsp. liqueur (Jo used Frangelico. I used Amaretto.)
1 Tbsp. molasses
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (Jo has a fabulous Pumpkin Pie Spice recipe on her site)
1 tsp orange extract, OR 2-3 drops of dōTerra or Young Living orange essential oil (I used 4 drops)
1 tsp lemon extract, OR 2-3 drops of dōTerra or Young Living lemon essential oil (I used 4 drops)
¾ cup breadcrumbs OR (for gluten-free version) ground almonds
1 medium carrot, grated (I had 2 medium carrots left in my fridge, so I grated them & used both. Worked fine.

~Last step:
¾ cup self-rising flour
OR (for gluten-free version) gluten-free self-rising flour (+ 2 Tbsp more for high-alt)
OR you can use ¾ cup gluten-free all-purpose flour AND 7/8 tsp GF baking powder & ¼ tsp baking soda (+2 Tbsp extra flour for high-alt)

Instructions:

1. Soak your dried fruit ahead of time. I know I keep reminding you of this–in case you drank the liqueur instead of soaking the fruit. 😉
   IF you didn’t get to soak your dried fruit days ahead of time, then soak them as you prep, preferably for a few hours, and when it comes time to add the liqueur—be “free-handed” (or sloppy?) in pouring of the Tablespoons of liqueur.
   When the time came to add the soaked fruit to the other ingredients, I didn’t worry about draining off the liqueurs the fruit had been soaking in—if some liqueur went along for the ride into the mixing bowl…
   Oh well. 🙂
2. A Prep-step: Place approximately 8-10 cups (depending on the size of your Instant Pot) of water to boil for later use in step 7. (But this way, you won’t have to stand around, waiting for water to boil later.)
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs.
4. Then—Mix in everything else EXCEPT the flour. So—the soaked fruit, nuts, liqueur, molasses, spices, extracts, crumbs (or ground almond), and carrots. Mix well.
5. Then, lightly fold in the flour (or gluten-free flour, baking powder, and baking soda). Once it’s mixed in well, scrape mixture into a well buttered 1.5-quart metal or oven-proof glass, or ceramic bowl.
6. Cut a large enough piece of parchment paper to cover the bowl and a slightly larger piece of aluminum foil. Put an inch-deep pleat across the middle of both the parchment and the foil. Lightly grease the parchment side. Place over the pudding bowl and secure with an elastic band or string, scrunching up the excess paper and foil around the rim.
7. Lower the bowl onto the trivet inside the Instant Pot basin and pour the boiling water into the Instant Pot to about an inch below the outside rim of the pudding bowl and the foil.
8. Put the lid on the Instant Pot, leave the valve OPEN and set to Steam. As soon as you hear the steam coming out of the vent, set a timer for 15 minutes.
   Note: Since the pot is not steaming under pressure when the vent is open, the Instant Pot timer will not start its own timer countdown.
9. When the 15 minutes is up, CAREFULLY, using oven gloves, close the Valve and set to Manual High Pressure for 45 minutes.
   NOTE: For high-altitude pressure cooking, the steaming directions remain the same. However, once you close the valve, the pressure cooking time will need to be increased. The general suggestion is: “add 5% cook time for every 1,000 feet above 2,000 feet above sea level.”
   But… I already knew from my first run, that wasn’t enough for mine. (There are so many possible variables, I couldn’t tell you why.)
   At 5,300 feet above sea level, I used a pressure cook time of 90 minutes and it seemed just right. Jo’s reassurance that it’s hard to “overcook” a Christmas Pudding was golden here.
10. When done, allow Natural Pressure Release (NPR), then retrieve cooked pudding carefully with oven mitts. Remove the paper and foil. Allow cooling.
11. When cooled, replace fresh parchment and foil and leave in a cool dark place until required. (Mine was in the fridge.) I’m told this could be done a year in advance but tradition dictates at least 5 weeks before Christmas, to give a full, matured flavor.
    Personally, mine was awesome once it cooled enough to serve. And the refrigerated left-overs were reheated in the following (similar) way… and they were also fabulous.

    To Reheat (on Christmas Day, or whenever):
    1. When ready to reheat, place the pudding on the trivet and pour the boiling water into the Instant Pot (as you did last time), setting to Steam for 20 minutes—Close the Valve this time.
    2. You can leave the pressure to release naturally (NPR) and serve when you’re ready on Christmas Day or serve right away if you like.
    3. Invert onto a serving plate before portioning and serving with rum or brandy butter, custard or rum sauce.

Recipe Notes
* Make up the dried fruit with whichever combination you prefer – currants, raisins, cranberries, figs, dried cherries, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple… they’re all good.

** If you don’t like the crunch of nuts (or you have someone in the household who is allergic), then replace the nuts with more dried fruits instead.

*** You can use Brandy, Rum, Spiced Rum, Whiskey, Grand Marnie, or if nut allergies are NOT an issue, then you could use Frangelico or Amaretto. Use whatever you have (& like) in your cupboard.

To Make Gluten-Free:
In case you missed the notations in the ingredients list–
Replace the breadcrumbs with ground almonds. In place of self-rising flour, use gluten-free self-rising flour.
OR use gluten-free all-purpose flour. If using all-purpose, add 7/8 tsp GF baking powder and ¼ tsp baking soda.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spiced Buttered Rum Sauce

This recipe (derived from over a dozen recipes) is for drizzling over the Figgy Pudding after you have dished it up onto individual plates, just before serving.

Ingredients:    

¾ cup packed, dark brown sugar

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup whipping cream (I used coconut cream)

2 Tbsp. spiced rum or dark rum (+1 more Tbsp. rum, after cooking)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Instructions:

Stir butter and brown sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth. This takes about 2 minutes. Add the whipping cream, rum, and spices. Stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the sauce thickens—about 5 minutes. Add final Tablespoon of rum, and stir in. Serve warm.
Makes about 1½ cups of sauce.

Can be made a few days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator. Simmer to reheat before serving.
Caution: Do not reheat in plastic containers.

Enjoy!
Be Well,
~Paula