Treacle And Spotted Dick, Have you tried them?

I'm curious how many people here have tried either of these yummy British desserts? We recently tried both of the Heinz canned treats, and loved them. I've since found a recipe for the Treacle, but have yet to find a recipe for Spotted Dick that I can find all of the ingrediants for here in the U.S. (ground suet is not very common here, and I'm not sure if the suet available here is even the same thing as the recipe calls for).

Suet in this country tends to be rendered beef tallow, but in England it could be mutton fat (the flavor would be different). You can usually get it in supermarkets, over where the butter and margarine is, and packed in a similar way. You could also go to the meat department or a butcher and ask for the heavy fat trimmings from a side of beef -- they are used to it because people ask for it to feed the birds in winter. I've used it for birds (you heat it up and mix in some sunseeds and fine cracked grain, then let it cool to get firm again and put it out for them to eat).

I saw a couple of recipes for Spotted Dick on the net that substitute margarine for suet, but it wouldn't be the same . I have once eaten Christmas Pudding, british style with suet in it, and it's very rich and satisfying in cold weather.

I don't think it has to be ground -- you can probably just mince the hard fat very fine with a knife. It's got to melt and blend in with all that steaming.

Can you put the treacle recipe here?

I'll keep an eye out for it...thanks.

And here is the link for Treacle: http://www.rogerssugar.com/treaclepudding.html