In my childhood Summer Pudding was always made from blackberries picked from the hedgerows. It was many years before I realised that by most people the words
"Summer Pudding" meant a dish made from mixed summer fruits ? raspberries, black and red currants and possibly gooseberries. Nowadays I make it from a mixture of raspberries, tayberries (a recent invention) and a few red- and black-currants.
The bread should be at least 2 days old. It can be white or brown, as long as it is not ‘heavy^(1). I find that ready-sliced bread does not go dry enough as it gets older, so does not absorb the juice adequately.
Ingredients:
a loaf of stale bread
500 g (just over 1lb) mixed summer fruits
20 ? 25 g (about a tablespoonful) sugar
Slice the bread (about thickness for toast) and cut off the crusts. Cut one piece into a circle that fits the bottom of a pudding basin about 1 litre/2 pints in size. Line the rest of the basin with tightly packed bread so there are no gaps. Reserve 2 or so slices of bread for the top.
Save a few berries for decoration (if that^(1)s your style!) and stew the rest of the fruit with the sugar and a little water. (The amount of water needed depends on the type and ripeness of the fruit.)
When the fruit is cooked, put a little of the juice aside and pour the fruit and the rest of the juice ,while it is still hot, into the prepared bowl. Cover with the reserved slices.
Put a small saucer which just fits on the top. Stand the whole thing on a plate because it can dribble, and put a weight on top of the saucer. (A bottle of water makes quite a good weight.) Leave in a cool place over night.
When you are ready to serve it, remove the saucer and run a knife around the bowl to loosen the pudding. Put a large plate up-side-down on top of it, give it a shake, invert the whole thing and remove the bowl. With any luck the pudding should be standing in all its glory on the plate.
Pour the saved juice over the top, decorate with the saved berries, and serve with cream, ice cream or on its own.
