Passport
Baker
Joni
Location
Manitowoc
Baking Challenge
Sponge Puddings
Give your dessert a clever name – and tell us about your recipe.
KinnicKinnic Spotted Dick and Sticky Toffee Pudding
What was the biggest surprise during your baking journey? Did you use any unconventional approaches? What did you learn along the way? Tell us about it!
I get it now! I understand "puddings" – such a soft, moist texture; I love them! I made the Spotted Dick the traditional way, and I have a British friend who is entirely sick of that pudding, having grown up with it as part of her school lunch. I was so impressed with the depth of flavor and the silky smooth custard sauce that I had to try it again with my Wisconsin theme. WOW; it was my favorite thing I've made in this challenge so far! I was told that the Sticky Toffee Pudding would be the best thing ever, but I have to say, the flavors of the Spotted Dick won me over! For steaming the Spotted Dick, I used a large "pudding bowl" I borrowed from my British friend; it took about an hour and 40 minutes to steam. I used ramekins for the Sticky Toffee Pudding and a bain marie in the oven, which reduced the cooking time. Both methods really impressed me; the product has the texture of the best cake ever!
How did you add a Wisconsin twist to your flavors or decoration?
Great Lakes Distillery of Milwaukee has an incredibly smooth whiskey called KinnicKinnic. I'd never had it before, and I bought it because it's Wisconsin made and had a great name that went with "Spotted Dick." Honestly, I was so impressed with the smooth flavor of the whiskey that it was a shame to cook with it. However, I couldn't have been more pleased with the depth of flavor after soaking the dried Wisconsin Montmorency cherries, Wisconsin cranberries and currents in the whiskey. After straining the dried fruit from the whiskey, I used the leftovers in the velvety smooth custard sauce. I cooked it too fast the first time and tossed the entire lumpy nasty batch. This stuff takes patience, but is sooooo worth it!
After researching some British YouTube videos, I realized that they have just as much trouble chatting about this uniquely named dessert as we Americans do – and every time I explained what I was making this week, it started a whole new round of Spotted Dick–related humor.
I made the Sticky Toffee pudding just as the British recipe was written. It was delightful, albeit quite sweet for a European dessert. I just wanted to try it as-is for the first go around. Other than Wisconsin dairy products and eggs, I did not digress from the original recipe.
How did you do?
It’s perfect – and I’m not sharing!
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