flipPlum Duff (Sunday Pudding)
Plum Duff (Sunday Pudding)
Why this dish? The only real sweet pleasure of the week for the crews Davy Jones coveted: the rich, filling pudding served on Sundays, turning a day at sea into a celebration. A last comfort before the storms off the Cape.
A boiled pudding in a cloth, made of flour, beef suet, and raisins. Cooked for hours in the pot, it swelled into a dense, sweet mass, eagerly awaited all week.
Ah, this one — my lads waited for it as they waited for land! Come Sunday, the cook would tie the dough in an old cloth and plunge it for hours into boiling water. Suet, flour, and those raisins they'd count one by one — 'twas the ship's feast, rare sugar amidst the salt. Poor souls: they danced with full bellies, not knowing old Davy waited beneath the keel.
- •Wheat flour — as needed (base)
- •Beef suet (fat) — a good portion (fat)
- •Raisins — a handful (sweet garnish)
- •Sugar or molasses — according to stores (sweetness)
- •Water — to bind (binder)
Plum Duff (Sunday Pudding)
A boiled pudding in a cloth, made of flour, beef suet, and raisins. Cooked for hours in the pot, it swelled into a dense, sweet mass, eagerly awaited all week.
Why this dish? The only real sweet pleasure of the week for the crews Davy Jones coveted: the rich, filling pudding served on Sundays, turning a day at sea into a celebration. A last comfort before the storms off the Cape.
Ah, this one — my lads waited for it as they waited for land! Come Sunday, the cook would tie the dough in an old cloth and plunge it for hours into boiling water. Suet, flour, and those raisins they'd count one by one — 'twas the ship's feast, rare sugar amidst the salt. Poor souls: they danced with full bellies, not knowing old Davy waited beneath the keel.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — as needed (base)
- Beef suet (fat) — a good portion (fat)
- Raisins — a handful (sweet garnish)
- Sugar or molasses — according to stores (sweetness)
- Water — to bind (binder)
Ingredients
- Flour — 250 g (base)
- Grated beef suet (or cold butter) — 120 g (fat)
- Raisins — 150 g (sweet garnish)
- Brown sugar (or molasses) — 80 g (sweetness)
- Milk or water — 150 ml (binder)
- Pinch of salt — 1 (balance)
Method
- Mix the flour, salt, sugar, and grated suet with your fingertips.
- Add the raisins, then the milk little by little to form a soft, sticky dough.
- Place the dough in the center of a clean floured cloth, gather into a bag leaving some room for swelling, and tie tightly.
- Plunge the bundle into a large pot of boiling water and cook at a simmer for 2 hours, topping up water as needed.
- Drain, carefully open the cloth, and serve hot, drizzled with molasses or a sprinkle of sugar.
How it was made : 'Plum duff' ('plum' then meant any dried fruit, not just plums) was the Royal Navy's Sunday dessert. Lacking a mold, it was cooked in a tied cloth plunged into the pot — hence its round, cannonball-like shape. Its richness in suet provided a welcome calorie boost.
The contemporary twist : Serve warm with custard and orange zest, under the name 'Davy Jones's Cannonball'.
Davy Jones · Charactorium
