Traditional Spotted Dick Pudding – A School Dinners favourite and a classic British steamed suet pudding, which is great served with custard.
A Classic British Steamed Pudding and School Dinners Pud
We are well into what I call “The Cosy Season”, aka “Pudding Season“, so in readiness for this, I am sharing a classic British recipe for Traditional Spotted Dick Pudding today.
This traditional steamed pudding has many other names, as I’ve shared below – other names include:
- Spotted Dog (especially in Scotland),
- Plum Bolster,
- Currant Pudding,
- And less commonly, Spotted Richard as restaurant-friendly euphemisms.
The name “Spotted Dick” is thought to refer to the currants, the “spots”, and the historical word for pudding, “Dick” which is a shortened form of “puddick”, with “Dog” relating to dough in Scotland.
The first named recipe for Spotted Dick appeared in Alexis Soyer’s 1845 cookbook, “A Shilling Cookery for The People”. He later included it in his 1849 book “The Modern Housewife” as “Plum Bolster, or Spotted Dick”.
Spotted Dick was a very popular school dinners pudding when I was growing up, with the school cooks making it in a long sausage shape, served with custard of course, and lots of smutty humour!
I made mine in the pressure cooker (my Ninja) and served it with cream, as I had no custard powder, and with no time to make proper homemade custard, crème Anglaise.
However, as you can see, I served it with custard today, after whizzing down to the village shop, and it’s my favourite accompaniment with this kind of steamed pudding.
There are some recipe variations with for this comforting pud, with currants being the most common dried fruit, then sultanas, and with added citrus peel, or grated fresh lemon zest sometimes.
This is a very easy recipe to make, with it usually being steamed in a traditional pudding basin; however, it is sometimes made in a long roll, like a Jam Roly Poly, which I will be sharing soon.
Much though I like the microwave for quick puds, it isn’t really suitable for this suet heavy pudding, although it works well when reheating after being cooked and steamed.
I hope you enjoy this if you make it – I have shared the traditional steaming method, as well as the pressure cooker method. Karen
Culinary Notes
- For traditional steaming:
- Steam the pudding for 2 hours,.
- You can keep the pudding warm in the steamer until you are ready to serve it; when you are ready to serve, carefully un-mould the pudding by inverting it on to a serving dish.
- OPTIONAL:
- 6oz (175g) sultanas, instead of currants
- Zest of of 1 lemon
- Demerara sugar is sometimes sprinkled inside the buttered pudding basin before adding the uncooked pudding batter.
- Golden syrup can be drizzled over before serving for a sweeter pudding.
- Serve with cream or custard.
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Traditional Spotted Dick Pudding Recipe
Traditional Spotted Dick Pudding
Yield:
6
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
1 hour
Total Time:
1 hour 15 minutes
We are well into what I call “The Cosy Season”, aka “Pudding Season“, so in readiness for this, I am sharing a classic British recipe for Traditional Spotted Dick Pudding today.
This traditional steamed pudding has many other names, as I’ve shared below – other names include:
Spotted Dog (especially in Scotland), Plum Bolster, Currant Pudding, and less commonly, Spotted Richard as restaurant-friendly euphemisms.
The first named recipe for Spotted Dick appeared in Alexis Soyer’s 1845 cookbook, “A Shilling Cookery for The People”. He later included it in his 1849 book “The Modern Housewife” as “Plum Bolster, or Spotted Dick”.
Spotted Dick was a very popular school dinners pudding when I was growing up, with the school cooks making it in a long sausage shape, served with custard of course, and lots of smutty humour!
I made mine in the pressure cooker (my Ninja) and served it with cream, as I had no custard powder, and with no time to make proper homemade custard, crème Anglaise.
However, as you can see, I served it with custard today, after whizzing down to the village shop, and it’s my favourite accompaniment with this kind of steamed pudding.
There are some recipe variations with for this comforting pud, with currants being the most common dried fruit, then sultanas, and with added citrus peel, or grated fresh lemon zest sometimes.
This is a very easy recipe to make, with it usually being steamed in a traditional pudding basin; however, it is sometimes made in a long roll, like a Jam Roly Poly, which I will be sharing soon.
Much though I like the microwave for quick puds, it isn’t really suitable for this suet heavy pudding, although it works well when reheating it after being cooked and steamed.
I hope you enjoy this if you make it – I have shared the traditional steaming method, as well as the pressure cooker method. Karen
Ingredients
- 8oz (225g) self-rising flour
- Pinch of salt
- 4oz (125g) suet (beef suet or vegetable suet
- 1oz (25g) caster sugar
- 6oz (175g) curants, soaked in brandy for 2 to 3 hours
- Full fat milk, to mix
- OPTIONAL:
- 6oz (175g) sultanas, instead of currants
- Zest of of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Butter a 2 pint (1.2 litre) pudding basin.
- Sieve togther the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in the suet.
- Add the sugar and the brandy soaked currants.
- Mix with enough milk to make a soft dropping consistency batter.
- Pour or spoon it into the prepared pudding basin.
- If you are using a plastic basin, place the lid on; if not, then cover the pudding with a sheet of buttered greaseproof paper and then some foil, that has been pleated in the middle to allow for pudding expansion.
- Secure with string and make a string handle if you wish for ease of removing the pudding.
- Pour 1/2 pint (300ml) boiled water to the main bowl of the Ninja Foodi, or to any multi-cooker or pressure cooker you are using.
- Add the reversable rack into the pressure cooker or Ninja Foodi bowl, then sit the pudding basin on the rack, using the two moveable handles to secure it in place. (If using a traditional pressure cooker, sit the basin on a trivet)
- Close the lid and turn the pressure release valve to SEAL.
- Move the programme slider right over to the LEFT to PRESSURE.
- Set the pressure to HIGH for 60 minutes and press the START button.
- The machine will beep and naturally release the pressure; you can release it by turning the pressure release valve to VENT if you wish, this is quicker.
- Carefully remove the pudding from the machine using the racks handles, or the string if used.
- Remove the paper and foil and invert on to a serving plate. Serve immediately with custard.
Notes
For traditional steaming:
Steam the pudding for 2 hours,.
You can keep the pudding warm in the steamer until you are ready to serve it; when you are ready to serve, carefully un-mould the pudding by inverting it on to a serving dish.
OPTIONAL:
6oz (175g) sultanas, instead of currants
Zest of of 1 lemon
Demerara sugar is sometimes sprinkled inside the buttered pudding basin before adding the uncooked pudding batter.
Golden syrup can be drizzled over before serving for a sweeter pudding.
Serve with cream or custard.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6
Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving
Calories 294Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 10mgSodium 50mgCarbohydrates 40gFiber 3gSugar 20gProtein 5g
