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Trail Bytes, June 2024: Figgy Pudding Meets Pecan Pie
June 14, 2024
Hello,

On Christmas Eve, one of the songs we sing is, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” The song has English origins, and I’ve always wondered about the lyrics asking for figgy pudding.

Bring us some figgy pudding, oh bring us some figgy pudding, oh bring us some figgy pudding, and bring it right here.

For this month’s Trail Bytes, I made figgy pudding, but left out all the traditional ingredients except for the figs. The first three flavors are banana-fig, pear-fig, and sweet potato-apple-fig.

I call the dehydrated puddings “Figgy Pudding Pops,” because you can pop them in your mouth while moving down the trail. They are thicker and chewier than the fruit leathers I normally make. Pop a piece in your mouth and roll it around for a while. There’s no rush to swallow it down until you get the full pudding flavor.

The inspiration for figgy pudding pops came from my son-in-law, who runs marathons. He asked if I could make a high-calorie snack that he could eat during a race to supplement the energy gels that he uses. They had to be easy-to-digest, and provide quick energy. As a form of predigestion, I cooked the figs, fruits, and a small amount of oatmeal before running it all through the blender.

Thomas tested all three flavors of figgy pudding pops on a recent half-marathon. He said they helped with energy, they all tasted good, his favorite was banana-fig, and they did not upset his stomach. He ran 12.4 miles in 1:50:29 and burned 1362 calories. Way to go, Thomas!

As moderate hikers and backpackers, Dominique and I consider covering 12 miles in a whole day a success. Along the way, we take frequent snack breaks. We’ve gone beyond testing the figgy pudding pops, and now we carry them as a favorite hiking snack wherever we wander.

I haven’t rehydrated figgy pudding pops back into pudding in the woods yet, but I rehydrated a lot of it in the kitchen over the past two months. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. This pudding is so good, you could serve it on Christmas Eve. Try it with pecans or walnuts.

We won't go until we get some, we won’t go until we get some, we won’t go until we get some, so bring it right here!

You’ll find the recipes and instructions on the new page at Backpacking Chef:

Figgy Pudding Pops

Dominique and I send good tidings to you and your kin, and wishes for a merry time on your next adventure.

Freundliche Grüsse,

Chef Glenn & Dominique

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