390545 Wed Apr 11 06:48:57 -0700 2007 15 31 Home Cooking 0 2469883 I am attempting a second try of a British steamed (dessert) pudding called Spotted Dick. My first recipe attempt was taken from a traditional recipe book and was basically... 1.5 cups flour 1.5 cups bread crumbs .75 cups beef suet with golden syrup, raisins, citron peel, etc I served the pudding slices with a custard sauce. While traditional, some of my guests did not appreciate the fatty greasy mouth-feel of the dessert, and I thought that I could try it again, perhaps with the addition of an egg or milk in place of some of the fat. I found a Jamie Oliver recipe that uses an even higher ratio of suet to flour/crumbs, and a recipe on BBC.co.uk that calls for "vegetable suet" (our Crisco?), but other than that, not much information. Anyone out there that has any experience with this odd request? thanks in advance. Wed Apr 11 06:48:58 -0700 2007 71633 jerryc123 1 2470374 A suet based pudding like this needs to be served warm, otherwise the fat congeals. Remember that beef fat is hard at room temperature. When I made a suet based pudding a couple of Christmases ago, I recall reading that as the granules of suet melt, they leave voids in the pudding, creating a 'raised' effect. Recently I've been thinking of making a treacle sponge pudding. This calls for putting a layer of golden syrup in the base of the basin, which later forms a topping. The pudding uses butter in place of suet, and self-rising flour (or baking powder). It is still heavy on the fat, equal parts, by weight, of flour, sugar, and butter. But butter is more palatable. Your guests might like the taste of this pudding better. paulj Wed Apr 11 09:08:32 -0700 2007 2469883 12139 paulj 1 2470555 I know that suet is traditional but I do steamed syrup puddings with butter and self raising flour. (Sounds more or less identical to the one paulj is thinking of) and find that it tastes 'lighter'. The recipe is pretty basic so can be meddled with easily - I can post if you're interested but as I'm English the quants will be in ounces rather than cups. You can also put jam on the bottom rather than syrup - if that's your thing but to me it is golden syrup every time. Wed Apr 11 09:50:59 -0700 2007 2469883 24646 ali patts 2 2473399 Yes, Yes, ali patts, the recipe, Please! And I have no problem with the conversions. I will try the self raising flour, and substitute some butter for a little of the suet. I make the "spotted dick" in a roll, rolling up the raisins inside, like you would for cinnamon bread, then wrap the whole thing up in pleated foil, rather than using a pudding basin or tin. paulj, by syrup, do you mean golden syrup, like Lyle's? Or treacle? I thought treacle was what we call molasses. Thanks, both of you! Jerry Thu Apr 12 05:45:06 -0700 2007 2470555 71633 jerryc123 3 2473440 Will bring it to work with me tomorrow and post. Thu Apr 12 06:09:48 -0700 2007 2473399 24646 ali patts 4 2476896 6oz self raising flour Pinch of salt 3oz softened butter/marg (or suet) 2oz castor sugar 1 egg 6tbsp milk Mix together the flour, salt, butter and sugar. Add the egg and enough of the milk to make a soft mix. (Should be softer than a Victoria sponge mix but not so soft that it is a batter rather than a dough) Pour into pre-prepared 2 pint pudding basin and cover with pleated greaseproof then steam for 1½ - 2 hours. (Or bake at 180/350 for 1 hour uncovered) (Or cheat and microwave for about 6 minutes – I think steaming produces the best results but microwaving is just so much easier!) The pudding basin needs to be greased then have 2 tbsp of golden syrup put into the bottom (I don’t think that is enough and always put three in!) You could use jam instead of the syrup, you could sub 1 oz of the flour with 1oz of desiccated coconut, you could add sultanas, you could use treacle, you could put sliced apples in the bottom and calvados in the mixture, or orange zest and cointreau, or lemon zest and limoncello, or… Fri Apr 13 01:37:49 -0700 2007 2473440 24646 ali patts 5 2480504 I just made a cheater's version of the treacle sponge pudding for breakfast: 1 oz butter 1 oz brown sugar 1 oz flour 1/4 tsp baking powder a dolop of molasses 1 egg I creamed the butter and sugar as well I could given the fact the butter was still cold. Added the rest to make a batter (about the consistency of a typical American cake batter). Also added some golden raisins. Greased a soup bowl, poured in Lyle's golden syrup, then the batter. Covered with an upside down plate, and microwaved for 2 minutes. A test toothpick came out clean. Turned it out on to plate with just a bit of sticking. The result was pretty good. The sponge had risen just to the edge of the bowl, without touching the plate. Texture was light, maybe a touch dry, and not too sweet. The raisins remained with the golden syrup, which had caramelized a bit, not surprising since my microwave radiates from below. Steaming might have left more liquid syrup, and softened the raisins some. Not bad for something that took a couple of minutes to mix, and couple more to cook. It also gave me an excuse to use digital scale that I got for Christmas (the equal weights of butter, sugar, and flour are easy to remember). paulj Sat Apr 14 09:32:57 -0700 2007 2476896 12139 paulj 3 2474126 I looked up a number of recipes. All have Lyle's golden syrup as the base, but only some had treacle (molasses) in batter. I don't know if the treacle in the name is referring more to the flavoring in the batter, or the topping. Maybe there has been a shift in terminology, or a sloppy generalization from the dark to the golden. Even if the recipe does not have molasses, it is likely to call for brown sugar. It sounds like one of those classic dishes that can be varied to suit one's taste and budget. Note that a treacle tart contains gold syrup rather than treacle. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/treacletart_67656.shtml (if you ever need to use up a can of Lyle's, this is the recipe!) The fanciest version included orange juice and zest. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/steamedtreaclesponge_81747.shtml Here's an Eton (school) version: http://www.waitrose.com/food_drink/wfi/cooking/quickandeasy/0006064.asp Here's a recipe for spotted dick (the rolled kind) that uses 'shredded vegetable shortening' (what ever that is) http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/spotteddick_78629.shtml paulj Thu Apr 12 09:44:25 -0700 2007 2473399 12139 paulj 3 2476950 Treacle in Britain is what we Americans call molasses. But for some reason, a treacle sponge or treacle tart is made with golden syrup. They're just trying to confuse us. Or keep all the golden syrup for themselves. Fri Apr 13 04:28:54 -0700 2007 2473399 14139 Kagey 4 2476959 My cupboards (in the UK) have lots of sugars - so I am interested (and want to make sure I use the right things when I adapt US recipes). To me syrup is golden (tate and lyle) unless otherwise specified as corn (light or dark) or maple. Treacle is black treacle by tate and lyle. Molasses are a sugar that is dark and sticky and forms a single lump in the cupboard. In the US can you get molasses as sugar or just treacle? And what is blackstrap molasses? Off topic I know, but I am curious! Fri Apr 13 04:38:56 -0700 2007 2476950 24646 ali patts 5 2477381 In the USA, a syrup like Lyle's Golden is not common, though if you check threads about pecan pies, you will references to one brand. Corn syrup is the most common form, with Karo being the best known brand. That comes in both a light and dark version. Pancake syrups are mostly made from corn syrup these days. There's a long thread about these syrups (Logcabin and Mrs Butterworth) and maple syrup. Molasses, in the USA, refers to the thick syrup that has been extracted from cane juice in the process of producing white sugar. Blackstrap is the strongest version. I usually use a milder, unsulphured, version. Most brown sugar is white sugar with varying amounts of molasses added back in, producing a crumbly mass that can dry out and stick together. There are some more expensive versions that are pulled from earlier in the sugar refining process, and don't have the added molasses. I'm guessing that Lyle's Black Treacle is equivalent to our unsulphured molasses, but I've never seen or tasted it. paulj Fri Apr 13 08:07:15 -0700 2007 2476959 12139 paulj 6 2478108 Paulj is right. Lyle's black treacle has the same flavor and texture as what we Americans call molasses. I'd think they're interchangeable, or at least close enough for most recipes! Corn syrup is horrible, but I understand it has physical properties that make it suitable for making things like fudge or caramels. A lot of pecan pie recipes call for it, but since I discovered Lyle's, that's all I'd use. By the way, thanks for the steamed pudding recipe. I think I'll try it this weekend! Fri Apr 13 11:25:55 -0700 2007 2477381 14139 Kagey 1 2476349 My family makes a steamed pudding for Christmas that's the bee's knees. Unfortunately, it has persimmons, which aren't in season right now, but for future reference it's posted in this thread: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/290671 According to foodsubs, mashed pumpkin may be a good substitute (though again, not very springy) Thu Apr 12 19:17:21 -0700 2007 2469883 10669 Amuse Bouches 1 2480548 Thanks to all that replied! I am attempting a "spotted dick" with less suet this weekend and will report back to this thread, for those that are interested. Sat Apr 14 09:53:20 -0700 2007 2469883 71633 jerryc123 2 2480636 Paulj; Made your microwave quickie pudding exactly, and it worked like a charm! And the kitchen scale helped as well. Now I am inspired to try a chocolate-ly microwave pudding. Will report back on the spotted dick. Sat Apr 14 10:42:36 -0700 2007 2480548 71633 jerryc123 3 2480654 This Golden Syrup pud is absolutely delicious. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231669 -Becca www.porterhouse.typepad.com Sat Apr 14 10:50:39 -0700 2007 2480636 11259 Becca Porter