Spotted what?

"You can't make this stuff up," as they say.  Last night when I inquired what the Englishman would like for dessert while watching Episode One, Season Two of the new Upstairs, Downstairs, he thought for a moment and then remembered he had purchased the ingredients of a traditional English treat.

No, your eyes do not deceive you, there is an actual dessert called "Spotted Dick".  It is a steamed sponge  pudding, (cake) which is studded with currants and raisins (which look like spots). It is usually served with warm custard.  This is how it looks out of the tin.

This is the custard that the Englishman warmed and poured over the Spotted Dick:

And this was the result:

The Englishman tells me this was a real treat once a week when he was a boy at school.  Given the sometimes wet, raw weather one experiences in England I can see how children would look forward to a warm, heavy dessert to sit in their tummies.

For me, it took a little getting used to this dessert.  I could faintly taste some ginger in there and commented that gingerbread with custard would be nice to try.  To be honest, the canned custard wasn't as nice as the Bird's custard the Englishman makes up for his trifle at Christmas.  But I was glad I tried Spotted Dick.  He's right, it is rather nice and a comforting type of dessert.

Still discovering new things with the Englishman after all these years.  That's nice and comforting too!