Figgy pudding is a pudding

Pudding

Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but it can also be a savory dish.In the United States, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, though it may also refer to other types such as bread and rice pudding.In the United Kingdom and...

 resembling something like a white Christmas pudding

Christmas pudding

Christmas pudding is a pudding traditionally served on Christmas Day . It has its origins in medieval England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding or plum duff, though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving dried fruit.-Basics:Many households have their own recipe for...

 containing figs

FIGS

FIGS is an acronym for French, Italian, German, Spanish. These are usually the first four languages chosen to localize products into when a company enters the European market....

. The pudding may be baked, steamed in the oven, boiled or fried.

The history of figgy pudding dates back to 16th century England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Its possible ancestors include savory puddings such as crustades

Custard tart

Custard tarts or flans pâtissier are a pastry consisting of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard and baked.-History:The development of custard is so intimately connected with the custard tart or pie that the word itself comes from the old French croustade, meaning a kind of pie...

, fygeye or figge (a potage

Potage

Potage is a category of thick soups, stews, or porridges, in some of which meat and vegetables are boiled together with water until they form into a thick mush.-History:...

 of mashed figs thickened with bread), creme boiled (a kind of stirred custard

Custard

Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...

), and sippets. In any case, its methods and ingredients appear in diverse older recipes. Today, the term figgy pudding is known mainly because of the Christmas carol

Christmas carol

A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...

 "We Wish You A Merry Christmas

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a popular secular sixteenth-century English carol from the West Country of England. The origin of this Christmas carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy...

," which repeats, "Now bring us some figgy pudding" in the chorus, indicating that it was a Christmas traditional dish served during the season and thus might potentially be given to Christmas carolers.