Sailors Duff

Sailor’s duff is a relic of nineteenth-century ship galleys, where ovens were too dangerous to run on heaving wooden decks. The solution was the duff: a flour-and-fat pudding steamed in a sealed mold over boiling water, equally at home above a galley stove or a modern home kitchen burner.

Molasses is the recipe’s defining ingredient. A half cup carries the dark, slightly bitter sweetness of cane syrup, the color of mahogany, and the historical authenticity of an era when refined sugar was expensive and molasses was cheap.

Boiling water added to the batter sounds wrong but is the recipe’s clever physics trick. Hot water pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, giving the steamed pudding its characteristic tender, moist crumb that no cake batter could match.

Pro Tips

• Grease the mold thoroughly and dust with flour, steamed puddings stick stubbornly without it
• Don’t fill the mold more than two-thirds full, the pudding rises significantly during steaming
• Maintain a steady boil in the steamer, drops in temperature give uneven texture
• Test doneness with a wooden skewer at 90 minutes, it should come out clean
• Unmold while still warm but rested, hot pudding falls apart and cold pudding sticks

Variations

• Serve with hard sauce (creamed butter, sugar, and brandy) for the traditional British finish
• Top with warm vanilla custard or heavy cream for a softer modern serving
• Stir a handful of raisins or chopped dates into the batter for fruity richness