A traditional boiled raisin pudding cooked in a cloth bag inside the Jiggs Dinner pot. Despite the name, it contains no figs, figgy is an old word for raisins. Dense, sweet and sliceable, served with molasses.
Figgy duff is a traditional boiled raisin pudding of Newfoundland, cooked in a cloth bag inside the same pot as the Jiggs Dinner. Despite the name, it contains no figs; figgy is an old West Country English word for raisins or currants. It is a 16th-century English boiled-pudding tradition preserved in Newfoundland kitchens, where it became a standard part of the Sunday boiled dinner. Its survival in Newfoundland reflects the island's isolation and deep English roots, and it is served sliced with molasses.
Dense, moist, faintly spiced and studded with raisins, with a slight suet richness, drizzled with dark molasses. Eaten warm in slices, it is heavy, sweet and the essence of old English farmhouse cooking.
The pudding is built on a dough of flour, breadcrumbs, suet (or shortening), brown sugar and raising agent, studded with raisins and spiced. The dough is tied loosely in a scalded cloth bag, leaving room for it to expand, and boiled for hours in the same pot as the salt-beef dinner. The long boil sets the pudding dense and sliceable; the cloth must be loose or the pudding bursts. The molasses is the traditional sweet.
Variations
A steamed version uses a mould instead of a cloth. Some cooks swap suet for butter.
On the Palate
Where Figgy Duff sits in the Canadian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 15 min
Scald a 30cm square of cotton cloth and flour it lightly.
- 28 min
Mix 250g flour, 100g breadcrumbs, 100g shredded suet, 150g brown sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, half tsp each of nutmeg and salt, and 200g raisins.
- 34 min
Stir in enough milk (about 150ml) to form a firm dough.
- 45 min
Turn onto the cloth, tie loosely into a round, leaving room to expand.
Watch outTie the cloth loosely with room to expand — the pudding swells as it boils, and a tight bag makes it burst into the water.
- 530 min
Boil in a large pot of water for 2 hours, keeping the water level above the pudding.
Watch outKeep the water above the pudding the whole 2 hours — if it drops and part surfaces, that section cooks unevenly and stays raw.
- 65 min
Untie, peel off the cloth, slice, and serve warm with molasses.
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