Did You Like School Dinners? (Heinz Spotted Dick Sponge Pudding)

Member Name: kenjohn

Product:	Heinz Spotted Dick Sponge Pudding
Date:	03/05/02 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty and very filling

Disadvantages: Stodgy

~ ~ The ‘mad cabbie’ has a very sweet tooth, which is probably why I like Heinz Sponge Puddings so much.
Probably the easiest way to describe them would be to ask you to cast your mind back to the stodgy sponges that used to be served up at school dinners. (well, they were stodgy at my school anyway!) So it’s fair to say that they wont be everybody’s cup of tea, and if you don’t like this type of sweet, then this sponge pudding is definitely not for you. I happen to like them myself though!

~ ~ As a youngster, this was my absolute favourite dessert, and I would pester the life out of my poor mother to get it on an almost daily basis.
Back in the 1950,s and 60’s (yes, they’ve been on the go that long, at least!) the only flavour available was treacle. In fact, I think they called it “Golden Syrup” back then.
Nowadays they have a far larger choice of different flavours, and you can now get treacle, (still my favourite) strawberry jam flavour, chocolate, black forest gateau, and toffee. I like the strawberry jam almost as much as the treacle, but the others I simply don’t like at all.

~ ~ They are easy enough to prepare.
Nowadays all you need do is to stick them on a plate and heat them up for a couple of minutes in a microwave.
I still prefer the old fashioned way if cooking them though, which is to pop a couple of holes in the lid of the tin, and then simmer them slowly in a pot of boiling water for about thirty to forty minutes.
I feel that they are cooked “all the way through” using this method, as sometimes they can still be a bit cold in the centre after they come out of the microwave.
Do be sure and pop the holes in the tin though.
I remember one time when I was a lad my mother actually forgot to do this. We were sat around the kitchen table having a lovely plate of mince and tatties, (potatoes) when there was this almighty bang. Th
e contents of the tin flew out of the pot and crashed into the ceiling, before dropping down to land smack in the middle of my dad’s plate of mince. I thought it was totally hilarious, but as old Queen Victoria used to say, he was “not amused”.
I like to put some single cream on mine, (watch the cholesterol levels!) but failing this I will settle for a drop of milk. They are also delicious with custard or a dollop of ice cream.

~ ~ You can buy them in most supermarkets or grocery shops, although for some strange reason it seems to be becoming harder and harder to get my favourite treacle flavour here in Ireland. There are 300g in the round tin, and they cost somewhere in the region of €1.60 to €1.95 (£1 to £1.20 Sterling) depending where you buy them.
There’s enough for two or three fairly generous helpings in each tin, although I have to say I have been known to get through a whole one on my own without too much difficulty.
So there you have it folks. Heinz Sponge Puddings. Ideal for a quick and easy dessert, and very tasty, but only for those with a sweet tooth.

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(The boring bit)

INGREDIENTS (copied of the tin)

Sugar
Wheat flour
Glucose syrup
Water
Hydrogenated vegetable oil
Salt
Dried egg
Diglycerides of fatty acids
Skimmed milk powder
Raising agents (including sodium, hydrogen, carbonate, and sodium)

(It’s fairly fattening as well, with 20g of fat content per tin)

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