Irresistible dick?

Spotted dick, calling to me from the grocery store shelf

When one has a sense of humor such as mine, one cannot simply walk by a display such as this. No, one must acquire said item, try it, and blog about it for posterity. Especially when it’s half off, by golly. I mean, could you resist cheap spotted dick?

Spotted dick is one of those crazy British things I had heard of, but never actually encountered in person. But what is spotted dick? According to the packaging, it’s “gorgeously moist suet sponge studded with juicy currants and a hint of mixed spice.” Sounds like something you might actually want to put in your mouth, no?

Spotted dick in a pot. Not exactly the shape one would expect.

I figured eating spotted dick would be more fun with a companion, so I enlisted the assistance of my husband. Neither of us was quite sure about it, so we decided to share one spotted dick between us (I actually have photos of us eating the dick, but I thought they might be a little too scandalous for the internet). We popped one open.

Verdict: meh. I didn’t expect spotted dick to become my new favorite thing, but I honestly expected it to be better than dry cake with bits of fruit in it. The container got tossed in the bin after just a few bites each.

I went to throw the second spotted dick away today. Before I did, I took another look at the package. As it turns out, spotted dick comes with directions, directions which we had not followed. Spotted dick is supposed to be eaten warm. I decided to give dick another chance.

Steaming hot dick. Much more attractive, don't you think?

The warm spotted dick was much moister (I guess all the liquid was in the bottom), and the mouthfeel was much improved. But still, it was just some rather plain cake with bits of dried fruit in it, not exactly an interesting dessert to me. Maybe I would have liked it better without the spots.

In (the) future, I’ll be able to resist spotted dick.

What about you? Any thoughts on spotted dick?

25 thoughts on “Irresistible dick?”

  1. hee 🙂 your dick was moist and had good mouthfeel!!!! 🙂

    (but as an FYI – you know suet is animal fat, right?)

  2. Half the attraction is in taking you back to your childhood / time at boarding school. If you didn’t have it until adulthood / didn’t go to boarding school, you may not be fully equiped to appreciate spotted dick.

  3. @Oliver – That must be it, then: I’m missing the spotted dick nostalgia factor. If only I’d had it earlier…

    @HH – I knew you’d be all over this one.

  4. You really should eat it with custard, but I have to say I was never a fan. It makes me think of school dinners in primary school, eurgh..

  5. the spotted part would worry me. anything spotted needs ointment and maybe a round of good antibiotics, right?
    then again, I’m a boorish American with a very limited world view. 😉

  6. huh…never had an opportunity to try spotted dick, but I, like you, would have been unable to resist buying it and trying it. it doesn’t sound like anything amazing, but if I get the chance to try it, I just might!

    ICLW #134

  7. I’m so relieved I can count on you guys to handle the spotted dick!

    That said, I’m glad you’re enjoying Edinburgh so thoroughly. I remember thinking that it just felt good there. When are you coming back to Munich?

  8. Once my parents took my hubby, T, and I to an English tea house for a traditional tea. T and I, at 30+ years old, giggled like adolescents at the “Spotted Dick” on the menu. I hope we never grow up, because that was fun. 🙂

    ICLW #67

  9. I have never heard of spotted dick before…. but if I stumbled upon it, I wouldn’t be able to resist taking pictures and writing about it either… I am still chuckling! Visiting from ICWL #64

  10. Not a big fan of it – but massively improved by lashings of custard! Try that next time, it improves any suet based pudding!

  11. I’ve found British food to be without much flavor. By adding spots and naming it dick they gave it some character.

  12. Yeah, um, they lost me at “suet sponge” but I would have at least given spotted dick a whirl. I have never heard of it before, btw, so thank you for sharing your spotted dick experience!

    Happy ICLW!

  13. Eeeuw! I hope you’ll try Spotted Dick again in a nice pub because that peel-back-the-plastic version looks nasty! When it’s done right, it’s really good – tastes a lot like the bread puddings we eat down here in the Deep South.

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