spotted dog

spotted dog (countable and uncountable, plural spotted dogs)

1. (UK) A steamed pudding with embedded currants or raisins
   • 1905, Mabel Barnes-Grundy, The Vacillations of Hazel, page 173:

     " Are there any raisins in the store-cupboard ? " I next asked weakly. " I noticed there were not many in the spotted dog pudding we had the other day."

   • 1906, The Pacific Monthly: A Magazine of Education and Progress:

     Fine—I've got a spotted dog about baked done in the oven, now.

   • 1962, Denis Glover, Hot Water Sailor, page 31:

     If you don't know what spotted dog is, it's one of those beastly steamed pudding things with an occasional raisin in it that boarding schools feed their inmates on because it's cheap, not in the least nourishing, and nearly guaranteed to keep them contented until tea time.

   • 1968, Bulletin - Volumes 4-6, page 76:

     The source of the trouble was the spotted dog. Spotted dog is a sort of pudding, made from dough with currants embedded.

• (steamed pudding): spotted dick