The iconoclastic songwriter Bob Dylan can't resist an iconic Christmas dessert: figgy pudding. Here's your chance to try his recipe...and learn what figgy pudding actually is.
Bob Dylan’s Favorite Holiday Recipe
Published on Dec. 19, 2024
The holidays can bring out nostalgia in anyone—even the famously iconoclastic folk rocker Bob Dylan. In fact, in 2006, the Nobel-winning songwriter dedicated his radio show, “Theme Time Radio Hour” to Christmas and New Year music.
In between spinning carols like “Silent Night” and “Poor Old Rudolph,” Dylan recited “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” and revealed his favorite classic Christmas food: figgy pudding. He even shared his personal recipe.
How to Make Bob Dylan’s Figgy Pudding
If you’ve sung “now bring us some figgy pudding” about a million times but never actually tasted the old-fashioned dish, you’re not alone. Figgy pudding is a type of Christmas pudding, a steamed, dome-shaped dessert traditionally flavored with booze, fruit and spices.
Reported on AllRecipes.com, Bob Dylan’s take on the recipe is pretty traditional for a countercultural icon. Mix flour, bread crumbs, brown sugar, spices, lemon zest, eggs, suet (a type of animal fat commonly used in British baking) and, of course, dried figs. You’ll mix together what we in the United States would consider more of a cake batter than a custardy pudding, then pop it into the oven in a water bath and steam it.
Note that Dylan’s recipe doesn’t contain any alcohol, while many pudding recipes do, including the royal family’s favorite pudding. Dylan dishes up his pudding with golden syrup and custard, but stateside, cooks might try heavy whipping cream or a scoop of ice cream, and a drizzle of honey or butterscotch.
