Come on all you bakers and cooks out there, admit it, haven’t you always wanted to make “Spotted Dick” at one time or another? Aren’t you curious? I know I was, but I’m not anymore because I took the giant step and made the damn thing!
I came across a recipe in an old issue of Gourmet Magazine (December 2005) and decided to dig in while I am in holiday baking mode.
Here’s their version Spotted Dick- although they also call it “English Jam Bag Pudding”
I think that when you have an artistic bent, anything is fair game and baking is exciting. Baked goods have the added cachet of being forbidden in the age of size zero for obvious reasons but you know that everyone wants them. Baking is a complicated and detailed process that requires assembling all manner of toys and gadgets, some bright and colorful and others heavy and traditional. If you’re lucky, you may have inherited a bowl, utensils or old linens from the women in your family history. Here are some treasures that I managed to salvage during the great move of ’09 from Montreal to Key West.
These were from my English grandmother. They are heavy and have incredible presence. I love using them for heavy cakes, etc.
They are still made today by Greens. I imagine that they were a staple of most British households for the middle part of the 20th century.
I am considering making every recipe in this box, like what happened in the Julia Childs movie. The difference is that these recipes will tell me what we really ate because they were important enough to be hand written and collected.
I always make at least one fruitcake in this pan and this year is no exception.
Here are two of my Hungarian grandmother’s aprons. I am so glad I rescued them. I have another 20 or so in a locker. She was a fantastic needlewoman. She sewed and embroidered and crocheted and by all accounts was a fabulous gardener and cook.
Only the bowl was used in my risque dive into the controversial world of the Spotted Dick. I began with asking myself, “What exactly is Spotted Dick? Is it a joke? So I asked a few people and here’s what I got:
Me: A kind of fish – maybe like a speckled trout/ WRONG
Katie: A deer or otherwise spotted prancing creature/WRONG
Nick: It’s a kind of pudding that my mother used to make/RIGHT
What! Well Nick is English and his mom did actually cook and bake. Spotted Dick is a much maligned dish used (mostly by Americans) to illustrate the eccentricities of the British as well as their penchant for dull and downright scary cuisine. So I looked up the provenance of this dish and most agree that ‘dick’ comes from pudding =ding=dish=dick. However, some think that ‘dick’ comes from a corruption of dough. The spotted part comes from the currents found in traditional versions. It’s called a pudding because custard is poured over it before serving. As for the controversy (the best part) here’s an article that explains it far better that I can.
The good news is that is has reverted to it’s original name after being called “Spotted Richard” for a very short time.
So here’s how my Spotted Dick turned out.
Now I have to turn it over . . .
Yay! Success! But it looks more like Striped Dick to me.
Spotted Dick is not sliced. It is pulled apart, much like the American version called Monkey Bread.
It was delicious and the bonus was that when I brought it to friends who have a larger family, the talented Emma (12-year old daughter) gave me this in exchange. It is entirely handmade – no mixes involved and was delicious, so I didn’t escape the calories after all!
If anyone wants the Gourmet magazine version of the Spotted Dick recipe, just ask and I will email it to you. Or better yet, find another recipe and we’ll compare notes.
Happy baking!
Well. I was SURE that little bambi’s were somehow related to “dicks” and then I thought I was wrong and it was a speckled baby bird. Oh well. I have a Hungarian/English background and grew up in Canada so I can be forgiven.
We had spotted dick when we were kids growing up in England. It was usually made with suet and steamed for what seemed like hours on end. That and treacle pudding was another standard dessert. All served with custard (that yellow vanilla flavored, runny stuff , also from England). We always said it stuck to your ribs and kept the cold English weather out.
Keep up the good work.
Whats really scary is this tin from Heinz – yikes!
Heinz Spotted Dick Pudding 300g, imported from England. This is a traditional British sponge pudding made with golden syrup, suet and raisins. Best served hot with custard.