Figgy Duff
A crowd-pleasing Canadian dessert built around allspice, raisins and molasses — roughly 70 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 8 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for pan and large pot. At medium difficulty across 8 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (3)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
Diet: vegetarian — no meat or fish, based on every ingredient listed below.
Contains: Gluten Dairy
Allergen labels are informational and may not cover cross-contact; verify every package and consult a qualified professional for medical dietary needs. Diet labels are derived from the ingredient list on this page — how we verify diet and allergen labels.
Food-safety and allergen information is general, not medical advice. Follow current guidance from your local food-safety authority, verify product labels, and seek qualified advice for allergies or health conditions.
How to make it
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and spices.
- Add raisins and stir well, making sure to coat the raisins in the flour mixture.
- Add melted butter, molasses and water and mix with a wooden spoon.
- Form a ball with the spoon or your hands and put the dough ball in a cotton pudding bag.
- Tie the bag, leaving at least 1 inch of room to allow the pudding to expand while cooking.
- Boil pudding for 1.5 hours. (In NL, this is typically done in the pot along with Jiggs Dinner, but it can be done independently.)
- When the duff is firm, remove it from the boiling water and let it cool slightly before removing it from the pudding bag.
- Slice pudding like a cake and serve with the warm sauce of your choice: rum butter sauce, warmed molasses or Molasses Coady sauce (1 cup (250 mL) molasses, 1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, 1/4 cup (60 mL) water) is common in Newfoundland.
You'll use: Pan · Large pot · Saucepan · Whisk
Watch how it's made
Hosted on YouTube — pressing play loads content from YouTube.
Ingredient substitutions
- Brown Sugar
- white sugar + 1 tbsp molasses per cup
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
What to serve with Figgy Duff
- Poutine Miscellaneous
- Split Pea Soup Side
- Tourtiere Pork
- Montreal Smoked Meat Beef
Tips & common questions
How long does Figgy Duff take to make?
About 70 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 8 steps and 10 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of brown sugar?
Try white sugar + 1 tbsp molasses per cup. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Figgy Duff vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat, fish or shellfish, so it is suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheese for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Structured source recipe — not yet independently kitchen-tested by Consomee. How we source, test & correct recipes.
Recipe data for Figgy Duff via TheMealDB (open database). ▶ Video. Original source. Consomee adds the scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure — how we source recipes.