Summer Pudding

Ingredients

• 4 cupsraspberries
• 2 cupsstrawberries, hulled, large ones halved; kept separate
• 1 3/4 cupsblackberries
• 3/4 cupredcurrants
• 3/4 cupsuperfine sugar
• 7 sliceswhite bread, from a sliced white loaf, crusts removed
• 3 tbspwater, for the syrup
• 1/2 cupheavy cream, to pour, to serve

Method

1. 1

   Rinse and gently dry the fruit; hull the strawberries, halve any large ones and keep them separate. Warm the sugar with 3 tbsp water in a large pan over low heat, stirring now and then, until it dissolves.

2. 2

   Boil the syrup for 1 minute, then add all the fruit except the strawberries and cook over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times, until softened but mostly whole in dark red juice.

3. 3

   Pour it through a strainer set over a bowl, keeping the fruit and the juice separately.

4. 4

   Line a 1¼-quart (1.25-liter) bowl with two overlapping sheets of plastic wrap, leaving about 6 inches (15 cm) hanging over the edge all around.

5. 5

   Cut the crusts off the bread. Cut 4 slices in half on a slight angle into lopsided rectangles, cut 2 slices into triangles, and keep the last slice whole.

6. 6

   Dip the whole slice briefly in the juice and press it into the bottom of the bowl. Dip the rectangles and press them around the sides, alternating wide and narrow ends up so they fit snugly.

7. 7

   Spoon in the cooked fruit, scattering the raw strawberries through it as you go.

8. 8

   Dip the triangles in juice and lay them on top to cover, trimming any overhang. Fold the plastic wrap over, sit a small plate on top, weigh it down with a couple of cans and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

9. 9

   Open the wrap, set a deep serving plate upside down on the bowl and flip them over together. Spoon over the leftover juice and serve with the cream.

Nutrition per serving