Spotted Dick
Spotted Dick, is certainly a name that catches your ears if you’re hearing it for the first time, but I can assure you, it is not rude, or some sort of infection picked up from putting you-know-where, in god-knows-who. It is in fact a traditional British pudding that is so comforting to eat with lots of custard. It is a suet pudding mixed with dried fruit, and then steamed until golden.
Tracing the Evolution of a British Classic
The origins of Spotted Dick are a bit murky, but it’s believed to have originated in the 19th century. The term “spotted” likely refers to the dried fruits scattered throughout the pudding, while “dick” may be a colloquial term for pudding or dough. Or maybe it was just invented my a man named, Dick, which is short for Richard, although I think I would prefer to be called Richard, than Dick. As for the exact origins, it’s thought to have evolved from various traditional British puddings and desserts, eventually becoming a beloved classic in British cuisine.
Tips for Making the Recipe
The recipe itself is rather easy to put together. However, when it comes to cooking the pudding, it needs steamed in a pudding basin for one and a half hours on a gentle simmer after the water comes to a boil. Don’t fret though if you do not have access to a pudding basin. It is possible to make the pudding in the oven with a roasting tray filled with water, directly on the shelf underneath where you will sit the pudding. For this you would need a large sheet of greaseproof paper, and the same size piece of tin foil, and then you would shape the pudding mixture into a sausage shape on top of the greaseproof paper, roll it up, leaving it slack for it expanding as it cooks, and then wrap the foil around that in the same manner and tie up the ends like a Christmas cracker.
Spotted Dick
Ingredients
- 300 g Self Raising Flour
- 150 g Suet
- 75 g Unrefined Caster Sugar
- Zest of two Unwaxed Lemons
- 150 g Raisins, Currants, or Sultanas I used sultanas here because that is what I had available.
- 250 ml Whole Milk
- Butter For greasing the basin
- ¼ tsp Fine Sea Salt
Instructions
- After the ingredients are weighed out, sieve the flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the suet, sugar, dried fruit, and the zest from the lemons, and mix together really well.
- Now gradually pour in the milk and mix until you have a dropping consistency off the spoon.
- Grease the basin well in butter and make two cartouche's, one smaller to sit in the bottom of the basin, and the larger one sits on top of the mixture after you have added the pudding mixture.
- Wrap the top of the basin in tin foil, and tie from the bottom of the basin and up, with string at different sides of the basin, creating a handle at the top where you can lift it out of the water easier once it is steaming hot and cooked.
- Now get a deep pan with a lid, put the basin in and fill the pan with water so it comes ¾ of the way up the sides, bring to a boil, then immediately lower the heat until a gentle simmer with the lid on. Steam for 1½ hours, checking occasionally that the water is around the same level, topping up if needed.
- Lift out once it is done, remove the string, foil and top cartouche layer, and turn out onto a plate to serve. Discard the smaller cartouche layer sitting on the top. Portion into wedges and drench in custard. Enjoy!!
- If doing it in the oven as mentioned above, have it on a low heat for about 100℃/212℉. But for best results for this particular pudding, use the main method mentioned.