I think you can steam the spotted dick in a covered pyrex bowl placed in a saucepan with a little water in the bottom. Simply put the lid on the saucepan and steam for the required time.

With lots of water in the bottom. The pyrex bowl has to be floating, otherwise the bottom of the pudding will stick to it and burn. But for, ahem, best realism, spotted dick should be cylindrical rather than basin-shaped. Perhaps a big Chinese-style bamboo steamer?

As all the web pages I've found seem to imply that the use of suet is nearly unknown in the USA, there must be a business opportunity for the first company to market suet products successfully. A jam roly-poly, or a steak-and-kidney pudding, just isn't the same made with butter or margarine in the dough instead of suet. All you need is a suitably grandiose American-sounding name, like maybe First National Sueteria, and you, yes you robricc, could be the Mrs Fields of suet pastry. Once you've got your market used to jam roly-poly, spotted dick, and steak-and-kidney pudding, you can graduate them to the more advanced stuff such as Sussex Pond Pudding...

Peter