Snack · 90 min · british

Spotted Dick

All-purpose flour does the heavy lifting here, with baking powder rounding it out. A British snack that takes 90 minutes, start to finish.

Ingredients

• 2 cups All-purpose flour
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 1 cup Shredded suet
• 0.5 cup Granulated sugar
• 1 cup Currants
• 0.75 cup Milk
• 1 tbsp Lemon zest
• 2 cups Custard

Steps

1. Mix the flour, suet, sugar, currants, and lemon zest, then bring together with the milk into a soft dough. The “spots” are the currants; the “dick” is old slang for pudding. Sniggering is traditional.
2. Shape into a log on a large sheet of buttered parchment, roll it up loosely, and twist the ends like a cracker. The pudding needs room to swell as it steams.
3. Steam over simmering water for 90 minutes, keeping the water topped up. A slow, gentle steam gives the classic dense-but-tender crumb.
4. Unwrap carefully — it will be puffed and golden-flecked. Slice thick.
5. Serve with proper pouring custard, not the instant kind. This is school-dinner nostalgia at its finest, and it deserves the real custard.

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