Love it or hate it, fruit cake is an iconic Christmas sweet. But across the pond, fruit cake, or figgy pudding, is dearly beloved in the UK.

So strong is the affection for figgy pudding that Oliver Cromwell took a page from Ebenzer Scrooge’s book and banned them along with yule logs, carol-singing, and nativity scenes.

To Cromwell’s Puritanical sensibilities, such joy-inducing traditions robbed the holiday of its true religious purpose.

Post-Cromwell, the joys of figgy pudding were restored to the populace and even enjoyed by royalty. King George I was given the moniker the “Pudding King,” after rumors that he requested the dish at his first Christmas banquet as the newly crowned monarch.

If you’re hungry for more fruit cake facts, or even some gingerbread too, check out our blog series that uses classic holiday traditions to trace the roots of our American identities. https://www.tenement.org/blog/digging-up-the-roots-of-holiday-traditions-christmas/