Spotted Dick! Traditional British Steamed Fruit Sponge Pudding

"I am finally posting my recipe for Spotted Dick! This delicious steamed sponge pudding with currants is a British schoolboy favourite from the days when school dinners were not only tasty and nourishing, but may have been the only hot meal of the day for some children. Originally, Spotted Dick would have been made with beef suet and breadcrumbs - this recipe has been updated for modern tastes, and uses vegetarian suet or butter with flour. Serve this with English custard for a comforting and nostalgic flavour explosion! Steaming is so easy, and whilst it bubbles and simmers away, you are free to do other things around the kitchen, such as prepare the custard!"
 
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photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
photo by French Tart photo by French Tart
Ready In:
1hr 35mins
Ingredients:
8
Yields:
1 Spotted Dick Pudding
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Grease a 600 ml (1 pint) pudding basin.
  • Mix together the dry ingredients.
  • Add the egg and sufficient milk to produce a smooth dropping consistency.
  • Place the mixture into prepared pudding basin.
  • Cover with pleated greaseproof paper and foil and steam for about 1½ hours.
  • Turn out and serve hot with custard or syrup.

Questions & Replies

  1. Can this pudding be reheated
     
  2. Can this pudding be reheated
     
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Reviews

  1. This may well be a nice steamed pudding but it is nothing like a traditional Spotted Dick.
     
  2. I've been married to an Englishman for almost 9 years and this is my first attempt at steaming a pudding! It turned out FABULOUS! First off, I had no mixed peel, OR currants, so I just substituted all raisins. For some reason I needed to microwave mine to get them *officially done*. The steaming DID cook them 4/5 of the way, but the minute in the microwave completed it and they TASTE SO GOOD!!!! Thank you for encouraging me to finally make an english pudding.
     
  3. Agree with Richard H (May 2015), that, although this may very well be a tasty spotted dick, it's not the same spotted dick (aka Currant pud), that Mum used to make. The original spotted dick had the ingredients of suet, flour, currants and whatever else, can't remember Mum using peel, but once the dough had been made and rolled in suet, to about the size of a small loaf . it was then wrapped in muslin, tied at both ends, then placed in a colander, which in turn, was placed in a pot of boiling water, and steamed for 2 hours. The smell was mouthwatering, and I normally asked Mum half a dozen times or so " When is it going to ready Mum". Can't remember ever having custard on it either, just a sprinkling of sugar. I'm trying to find someone who can make one for me, for which I'd certainly pay for. The recipe may be in one of Mum's old cook books, which we have around, but it was probably handed down anyway by my Nan! Alan P
     
  4. Make sure you soak the currants in hot water until they are soft (approx. 15 mins) it makes for a better pudding. This is comfort food for a cold winters night
     
  5. OK, I admit it ~ I tagged this recipe because of its name! A year or so ago some friends of mine found a tin of spotted dick in a specialty store in San Diego & gave it to me as a gift! It was OK, but nothing special ~ just another kind of bland English food! HOWEVER, comparing that tin of pudding to the pudding made with this recipe is like comparing a bean dish made with canned green beans to a dish made with fresh one ~ THERE IS NO COMPARISON! This recipe helped me make a wonderfully nice-tasting steamed pudding, which, I would like to think, is exactly the way Spotted Dick should taste! I had vegetable suet still from other recent baking, but another time might use the frozen butter! I also did more than might be usual with the citrus peel, since for the zest I minced peel from grapefruit, lemon, orange & lime! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe! [Tagged, made & reviewed in the Newest Zaar Tag game]
     
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<p><strong><span>The sunflowers in the field behind my house in SW France:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Sunflowers src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/DSCN8221.jpg alt=Sunflowers width=640 height=480 /><br /><strong><span><br /><br />I am British (English-Scottish), but I was born in South Africa and have lived all over the world, including Hong Kong, Germany, Cyprus, USA &amp; Singapore. I have also been very fortunate to have travelled extensively over the years.........I still have wanderlust! <br /><br />I used to be an English Literature &amp; Art History teacher &amp; lecturer; before that, I trained and worked as a Graphic Designer for many years. I now live in France with my husband &amp; my daughter who has just started university in September 2006. We also have one very chatty Burmese cat Willow, who allows us to live with her here! (I used to have three cats, I recently lost Monty, a beautiful seal point Siamese and before that, Rama, who was a debonair blue point Siamese cat - I would love to have another Siamese cat or cats in the future!)</span></strong></p> <p><em><strong><span>This is my Burmese Cat, Willow, sunning herself on the log pile in the kitchen garden:</span></strong></em></p> <p><strong><img title=My src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/ABaconButtyandSundryFoodPhotos34.jpg alt=My width=640 height=480 /></strong></p> <p><strong><span>Here is my lovely Monty, a seal point Siamese, and Willow, sitting&nbsp;in the kitchen garden last year, and a few months before Monty died; he was 18yrs old:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Monty src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/AbsolutelySinfulStickyToffeePudding.jpg alt=Monty width=640 height=480 />My</p> <p><strong><span>This is my wonderful old boy, Rama, a blue-point Siamese, who died when he was 20yrs old - excuse the old and much sellotaped photo:</span></strong></p> <p><img title=Rama src=http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r271/copperhorse58/Rama1stOctober2004164.jpg alt=Rama width=517 height=639 /></p> <p><strong><span>My favourite pastimes are: reading, writing, painting &amp; drawing, photography, gardening, anything creative, walking, travelling, dining out and of course COOKING! I love all types of cuisine, but especially Traditional British - and NO it is NOT all bad!! I particularly love food associated with the changing seasons plus traditional feasts &amp; festivals, as well as Slow Cooking. I also enjoy French &amp; North African cuisine, come to think of it, there isn't much I don't like! <br /><br />My husband &amp; I run a Chambres D'Hotes, (Bed and Breakfast) called Auberge de la Fontaine here in beautiful South West France; we specialise in Gourmet Food &amp; Wine Breaks, French Antiques &amp; Restoration courses, French Language courses and French Cookery classes. Our home is completely furnished with Antique French furniture that we have rescued &amp; restored ourselves. Our charming village has one of the oldest Churches in the region &amp; it is famous for its connection with the St.Jacques de Compostella Pilgrimage route, as well as being within the Cognac &amp; Bordeaux wine growing area. <br /><br />We have a wonderful garden where we grow ALL of our own herbs and most of our fruit and vegetables. I specialise in rare, unusual and old-fashioned herbs, which I grow in our walled garden. As well as growing herbs, I also grow many different varieties of lavender, old-fashioned shrub roses and heirloom fruit and vegetables. <br /><br />We have lived overseas for many, many years now - but we both still love going home to Northern England, near Scarborough &amp; York, to visit our family &amp; friends. 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