isithalal.food · Recipes

Spotted dick with vegetable suet

A steamed British currant pudding with lemon and orange zest, made with vegetable suet in place of beef suet and served with custard.

British · Dessert · Easy · 1 pudding, 6 slices · 105 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

Spotted dick is made with shredded suet, and the beef suet sold in UK shops is beef fat with no Halal mark, so it is Halal only from Halal-slaughtered cattle.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Shredded suet: Beef suet is beef fat. The Atora and Aldi beef suet pack records show no Halal mark, so it is Halal only from Halal-slaughtered cattle. Use vegetable suet, which is palm and sunflower oil, or beef suet from a Halal butcher. See Suet.

Ingredients

Pudding

• 250 g (2 cups) self-raising flour
• a pinch (a pinch) salt
• 125 g (4½ oz) shredded vegetable suet (or beef suet from a Halal butcher)
• 180 g (1¼ cups) currants
• 80 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
• 1 (1) lemon, zest finely grated
• 1 (1) small orange, zest finely grated
• 150 ml (⅔ cup) whole milk, plus 2 to 3 tbsp if needed

To serve

• to serve (to serve) custard

Method

1. Mix the dry ingredients. Put the flour and salt in a bowl and add the suet, currants, sugar and the lemon and orange zest.
2. Make the dough. Pour in the 150 ml of milk and mix to a firm but moist dough, adding the extra milk if it is dry.
3. Shape and wrap. Shape the dough into a fat roll about 20 cm long and put it on a large rectangle of baking parchment. Wrap it loosely so the pudding has room to rise, and tie the ends with string like a Christmas cracker.
4. Steam. Set a steamer over a large pan of boiling water, put the pudding in, cover and steam for 1½ hours, topping up the pan with boiling water from time to time.
5. Serve. Lift the pudding out and let it cool slightly before unwrapping. Slice and serve with custard.

Allergens

gluten (flour, and the flour in shredded suet), milk

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Spotted dick' (self-raising flour, shredded suet, currants, caster sugar and lemon and orange zest mixed with milk, shaped into a 20 cm roll, wrapped loosely in baking parchment and steamed for 1½ hours). The recipe says only 'shredded suet'; we specified vegetable suet, or beef suet from a Halal butcher. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: a box of vegetable suet, not the finished dish.