Summer Pudding

The Berry Best Summer Dessert!

First published in Pink Magazine August 2008

Being back in London for a week in the midst of Wimbledon and strawberries, cream, and champagne brought back to my mind another English traditional favorite of mine… Summer pudding .

  I remember the first time my friend Janey (Sophie’s Godmother) explained it to me…   Bread soaked in berries and juice made in a bowl and then turned upside down.   YUK, I thought. Fruit and bread all soggy and cold? Yup, sounded like a perfectly horrible English day or now a dessert along with the other perfectly horrible English dishes I avoided like: sweetbreads, marmite on toast, and blood pudding (which is not a dessert).   All in my top ten hated foods and one’s to miss list. I didn’t understand what all the hoopla was about, but after my first taste, I too became hooked and can think of nothing better than a gorgeous deep red summer pudding, turned out and then sliced to reveal a cascade of stunning regal colors immersed in a rich sauce topped off with crème fraiche, whipped cream or better yet, home made ricotta!   It is an easy dessert to make as long as you keep it simple. Some recipes make is seem that unless you received an A in geometry and calculus you shouldn’t even try it…cut the bread into even isosceles triangles with the berry ratio of 10:5:3 – while the triangles do make it easier to fit snuggly in a round bowl, as long as you over lap the bread so there aren’t any gaps (you don’t want the berry juice to escape). You can cut it in squares, rectangles, circles…whatever, no need to pull out and dust off high school protractor. Which goes back to my theory… that some recipes are made too difficult and discourage the average cook from trying and at the same time confirming the thought that perhaps you did something really wrong, since it did not turn out. One recipe I read, called for several different sized round cookie cutters and a charlotte mold. Again, I understand that, but reading it put me right off…EEK, what if you don’t have a charlotte mold, or a bunch of round cutters? Does that mean you can’t make this?   No, you don’t need anything fancy. A Pyrex bowl, saucepan, plate and bread knife…that’s it! Give it a go and cheers!

Ingredients

2 pints strawberries

2 pints raspberries

½ pint blackberries

1-pint blueberries

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoon Framboise (optional)

A loaf of good (hearty) white bread crusts cut off and each slice cut on the diagonal.

1 ½ quart bowl (preferably glass) or an 8inch soufflé dish (but the rounded shape is traditional)

Crème fraiche, Chantilly cream or vanilla ice cream to serve

Mint leaves and a handful of berries for the top as garnish.

Top and slice strawberries in half pick over the other fruit discarding stems, or collapsed berries. In a large saucepan gently cook all fruits, sugar and liquor until the berries slightly break down, do not let them turn to mush, basically cook them until they begin to render juices and are warm to touch. Stir gently as the berries cook being careful of the raspberries in particular.

  Line the bowl with the bread pieces, making sure there are no gaps and the bread slices overlap at the edges (this will make sure that all the fruit juices are absorbed and do not leak out – you want to keep as much juice as possible in the pudding). Push the bread pieces into the bowl using your fingers or knuckles.   Carefully ladle the berries and juice into your bread-lined bowl.   Spoon as much juice into the bread bowl as possible. Top with additional pieces of bread to create a top. Reserve any leftover juice or berries.   Place a piece of a parchment paper on top, then a plate to fit snuggly slightly inside and weight it with a heave can (like 28oz of tomatoes) Place the pudding on a plate to catch any juices that may leak out initially – chill overnight but two days is better.

To serve: remove paper, run a sharp knife around edge of pudding to loosen, place a round platter with an edge (not too much larger than the bowl) and invert…you may have to carefully shake the pudding or lift and edge and ease one side out with a spatula…the rest should fall into place and un mold in a dome form.   If there are still any white sections of the pudding, pour over the reserved juice for uniform color.   Garnish with left over berries on top and a few mint leaves.

  Cut through the pudding with a knife or spoon and serve with Chantilly cream, ice cream or crème fraiche…depending on your preference…welcome to a proper English summer dessert!

It's All Delicious Notes: Challah or brioche is perfect if you can find it.   If not a fresh bakery loaf is fine.   Using a glass bowl allows you to see the juice as it absorbs into the bread.