Summer Pudding

It’s apparently summer here in the UK, despite chilly, rainy days that leave me craving warm curries and jacket potatoes. Technically, it’s time for cooling salads and barbeques and gloriously hot pink Summer Pudding. So, here’s some inspiration for our next short burst of summer days, catch it while you can.

This is a plan ahead dessert as whilst it is effortless to make and takes little active time – it does require time to macerate the fruit (although this part can be skipped if you don’t have the time) and overnight refrigeration.

Ingredients: Serves 8

• 1 kg mixed summer fruits. stems removed (such as strawberries, raspberries, currants, tayberries, loganberries, blackberries, cherries and blueberries) (thawed frozen is fine)
• 175g caster sugar
• 8 Slices good quality white sliced bread, slightly stale, crusts removed (have more handy just in case) (use gluten free if needed)
• 2 tbsp blackcurrant cordial or fresh orange juice
• Soya, almond or coconut pouring cream to serve

Method:

1. Place the fruit and the sugar in a medium pan and stir gently to mix together. Leave covered for at least 3 hours to overnight to macerate. After resting the fruit, place the pan over a medium heat and gently bring  to a boil.
2. When the juices are beginning to flow, raise the heat slightly and simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the blackcurrant cordial or orange juice.
3. Cut a round out of one slice of bread to fit the bottom of a 1 litre/2 pint pudding basin, then cut the remaining slices into triangular wedges.
4. Dip one side of the bread circle into the juices in the pan containing the fruit, then place the circle in the bottom of the pudding basin, juice-side down, against the bowl. Do the same with the bread triangles, dipping one side of the bread into the juices before placing them around the edge of the bowl, slotting them together like a puzzle.
5. Once fully lined (be sure to plug any gaps with small pieces of bread if necessary), the tips of the bread triangles will be sticking up from the top of the bowl.
6. Spoon all of the fruit and its juices into the pudding basin. Trim the bread overhang with scissors. Cover the top of the fruit with more wedges of bread to seal. Place the pudding basin on a plate to collect any juices.
7. Find a saucer that fits neatly inside the bowl. Place it on top to cover the upper layer of bread, then weigh the saucer down with weights – bags of rice, tins and the like. Let it cool, then place in the fridge overnight, with the weights.
8. The next day, remove the weights and the saucer. Run a thin palette knife around the edges, then invert the basin onto a serving plate. Serve in thick slices with non dairy cream.

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