Thursday 14 November 2013

Happy Birthday to my 77 year old Grandad!

Well, I guess this will give me a reason to be baking I guess =]
My Granddad (known more commonly in our household as 'Papa') is never short of a dip for something sweet and old fashioned in the baking department. However, the traditional recipes from his youth are not always readily available to buy in the supermarket and my nan often can't be fussed to make his common desires for a traditional rock cake, jam roly poly or a recently requested 'Spotted Dick'! 

So this morning I decided to give him a sweet surprise and rise to the challenge of following a recipe to produce one I have never made before for 'Spotted Dick'.
I searched online for a recipe which would cater my leftover quantity of suet in the cupboard. I stumbled across one written by the lovely Delia Smith on her website.

Perfect! 3oz exactly of Suet in the cupboard and requested in this recipe! Bingo =]


'Spotted Dick rides again!' - adapted from Delia Smiths recipe

Ingredients
For the suet pastry:
 4 oz (110 g) self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
 2 oz (50 g) fresh white breadcrumbs
 3 oz (75 g) shredded suet
 2 fl oz (55 ml) milk
 salt

For the filling:
 6 oz (175 g) raisins
 3 oz (75 g) dark soft brown sugar

 grated zest ½ lemon
dash of white wine

Method

1. First of all, mix the filling ingredients together in a bowl. After that, make the suet pastry: sift the flour into a food processor, add the breadcrumbs, suet and a pinch of salt, and pulse to combine. 

2. Mix the milk with 2 fl oz (55 ml) water and add a little to the dry ingredients, sprinkling it here and there; adding a little more liquid until the mixture looks as if it is coming together to form a soft dough. Finish off using your hands, adding drops of liquid until you end up with a smooth, elastic dough that feels moist.

3. Next, transfer the dough to a lightly floured silicone baking sheet and cover with some flour and clingfilm and roll it out to a rectangle roughly measuring 8 x 12 inches (20 x 30 cm). 

4. Spread the filling evenly over it and roll it up gently and carefully from the narrow end. Now wrap the pudding in a sheet of baking paper and then kitchen foil, twisting it at each end to form a seal.

5. After that, fit a steamer over a saucepan filled with boiling water from a kettle and as soon as it comes back to the boil, pop the pudding in, put a lid on and steam for 2 hours, keeping the water at a steady simmer, and making sure it is topped up if it needs it. 

Serve the pudding in warmed bowls, cut in thick slices, with Traditional English Custard – an absolutely essential accompaniment.

I didn't have chance to take pictures of this creation but I was pretty impressed by the results I had achieved. I wrapped it up in a clean piece of foil and twisted at the ends and then attached a 'tag shaped cookie' piped with 'Happy Birthday Papa' and threaded a piece of string through the hole made into the cookie and tied to the twisted foil end. Then I had an idea to staple a tea bag like label written 'Whats inside?' and placed a concealed vintage image of a spotted dick inside so my granddad could open this rather than the foil to find out what I have made. 

I took it up to my nans with my brother and gave it to him to which he seemed very happy with it and the fact I had made something for him. Awh bless. 
Later on that evening he phoned to say he had his pudding that evening and thought it was incredibly lovely and has put in a request for another one! 
Awh I'm so pleased he liked it =] - See, its the little things in life which matter =]

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