Spotted Dick

Make Ahead and Storage

Refrigerated for 3 days. Re-steam 30 minutes rather than microwaving.

How to Make Spotted Dick

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1. Butter a 1.2 litre pudding basin and dust it with the tablespoon of sugar.

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2. Mix the flour, suet (or vegetarian suet), sugar, currants, lemon zest, salt and mixed spice.

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3. Stir in the milk to a soft mixture that drops reluctantly from a spoon. Add a splash more if it is stiff.

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4. Spoon into the basin and level the top — it should come no more than three quarters up.

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5. Cover with a pleated sheet of baking paper and foil and tie under the rim with string.

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6. Lower into a pan of boiling water reaching halfway up the basin, cover the pan and steam 2 hours at a rolling boil.

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7. Top up with boiling water from a kettle as needed, never cold.

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8. Rest 5 minutes, uncover and turn out onto a warm plate.

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Related guide: Ingredient substitutions.

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Worth Knowing

• A rolling boil for the whole two hours, topped up with boiling water only.
• Pleat the cover. A flat one stops it rising.
• A soft mixture. Stiff suet steams heavy.

Why the Method Is What It Is

A suet pudding is light because of steam, not because of raising agent, so the water must stay at a rolling boil for the whole two hours and be topped up with boiling water only — a splash of cold and the pudding sinks. Pleat the paper and foil cover, because the pudding rises and a flat cover holds it down. And the mixture should be soft enough to drop reluctantly off a spoon: a stiff suet mix steams into something you could stop a door with.

What to Put Next to It

Hot custard · Golden syrup · A second helping

Changing the Recipe

• 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.

The Numbers per Serving

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: 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.

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