Jam Roly-Poly
Suet pastry spread with jam, rolled up, and steamed into spirals. Known in every school in the country as dead man's arm, from the way it used to be boiled in a cloth.
Photograph credit: Jam roly-poly02 by EAT&ART TARO · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Photograph credit: roly poly cat by thisismcgoo · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Flickr · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Making Jam Roly-Poly
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Mix the flour, suet, sugar, salt and lemon zest, then add the cold water and bring to a soft dough. Do not knead it.
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Roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle about 30 by 24 cm.
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Warm the jam slightly with the lemon juice so it spreads easily.
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Spread the jam over the pastry, leaving a clear 2 cm border on every side.
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Brush the borders with milk and roll up loosely from a short edge, pinching the ends firmly shut.
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Lay it seam down on a large sheet of buttered baking paper, wrap loosely with a pleat down the middle, then wrap again in foil and twist the ends.
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Steam over boiling water 1 hour 45 minutes, topping up with boiling water.
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Unwrap, brush with milk, sprinkle with the sugar and cut into thick slices.
Related guide: Ingredient substitutions.
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Tips for Making Jam Roly-Poly
- A clear 2 cm border, or it splits and empties in the pan.
- Roll it loosely and pleat the wrapping. It needs room.
- Warm the jam first so it does not tear the pastry.
Common Substitutions & Variations
- No self-raising flour to hand? The common home substitute is the same weight of plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150 g, sifted together well; the rise may not be identical to a bought self-raising flour.
What to Serve with Jam Roly-Poly
- Hot custard
- Cream
- A school dining hall, ideally
Storing & Reheating Jam Roly-Poly
Refrigerated for 3 days. Re-steam 25 minutes.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: where a line offers a choice of foods, only one of them is counted; part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. How the figures are worked out.
Vegetarian when made with vegetarian suet rather than shredded suet.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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