Summer Pudding

Summer pudding is a traditional British dessert made with fruit picked during the height of its season when it is at its best.  It is very simple to make and while some recipes partially cook the fruit, we opted to make it with fresh uncooked fruit.   We love this recipe because it allows us to use all our freshly picked fruit- even the less aesthetically pleasing pieces.

To begin place all the fruit in a bowl (slicing the bigger pieces) then add a few teaspoons of sugar and a pinch of salt.  Allow to stand overnight in the fridge.  Strain out the juice and reserve the berries.

Find a suitable mold or small bowl and start by cutting out a circular piece of white sandwich bread….the super processed gross kind you used to eat as children with PB& J….and trust us….it will work well with the recipe.

Dip (or brush both sides) your bread in the reserved juice and then set it in the bottom of the mold or bowl which has been lined with saran wrap.

Repeat this with the remaining bread which should be cut length wise to line the bowl.

Once the saran lined mold has been lined with the juice brushed bread, fill it with the reserved berries and top with more bread (unbrushed).

Pour the remaining berry juice over the top layer of the bread.

We decided to vacuum pack our mold.  This is not necessary, and this recipe can easily be made by being wrapped in saran and weighted down with a heavy can or two.  We opted to put the bottom of a small springform pan on the top of our mold and then vacuum pack it.

We placed our vacuumed wrapped mold in the fridge overnight.  When you are ready to serve it cut the  packing away (or remove your saran wrap) and turn it out on a serving dish.

You will be left with a berry soaked pudding which is refreshing and light.  It is lovely served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.