How to make Summer Pudding

Make the most of those wonderful, tasty and super-healthy summer fruits by making the ever-popular Summer Pudding. Quick, easy and cheap to make, this pudding looks smashing, is absolutely delicious and is always a great favorite at Les Trois Chenes guest house.

The history of the pudding is unclear and authentic recipes are rare. It was once a favourite of health spas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (then called “hydropathic pudding”), and now the Summer Pudding remains a simple, economical and refreshing way to make the most of seasonal fruits.

As a rustic cook, I love to use seasonal, home-grown fruit and veg. that's local and to hand. I love to eat weeds (revenge!), wild food and I'm always trying hard to avoid food waste. Not too hot on quantities so I make more rather than less and eat up any left-overs the following day, freeze it or use it as a base for a new dish.

You Will Need

• Summer berry fruits: Gather fruit from the garden and the hedgerows: you can use black currants, blue berries, strawberries, elderberries, raspberries, black berries, bilberries and anything similar you have to hand.
• Sugar to taste
• White bread sliced and with crusts removed.

Tip

If you gather more fruit than you need, cook it and freeze it. That way you can make 'Summer Pudding' all the year round!

I've made an index of all my articles Find an article by Les Trois Chenes, and you can find more recipes in The Les Trois Chenes Recipe Book

Gently simmer the berries with sugan to taste and a little water for about five minutes, just until the berries soften but before they loose their shape.

Cut the crusts off the slices of bread and then cut into triangles. Place a whole slice in the base of the pudding bowl and then line the sides with the triangles. Fill with the berries leaving about 4cm of bread at the top to fold over.

Use the crusts! Give to children. If they don't like crusts, tell them not to eat them - then they will almost certainly try to steal them. Dry and wizz to make breadcrumbs. Toast and use with dips - tell children they are bread-chips.

Any other ideas?

When you have filled with fruit and enough juice to stain the bread red, fold over the top and cover with more bread. Pour over sufficient juice to stain red.

Cover with a plate, gently weight and chill in the fridge overnight. (You don't really need to use Maille Fine Dijon Mustard, but you almost certainly should have the glass of wine).

Just before serving, slip a knife around the edges of the pudding and turn upside down onto a plate - it should fall out easily and then more or less retain the bowl shape - if not, remember it all goes down the same way! Cut into slices as if it was a cake.

Serve with ice cream, fresh cream, clotted cream, creme fraiche, custard, yoghurt (or yoghurt mixed with honey) - any other sauce you fancy.

Presentation Being a Rustic Cook, presentation is also very rustic, only partly due to help of son. Might be nice to serve with a fruit sauce nattily streaked over plate.

Any ideas?

Variations

Here are a few untried ideas: lace with alcohol - creme de Cassis? Friends used Pineau de Charente, a fotified wine local to S W France. Add gooseberries and other fruits. How about doing same with peaches, or rhubarb - will this work??

Any ideas?

Health

If you want to go easy on the sugar and fat, choose a low fat, no sugar topping such as Yoghurt, and this is a nutritious meal that will help you stay slim healthy.

At the end of November I took the peaches that I had saved from summer out of the freezer and concocted this winter version of summer pudding. Have a look at the recipe here:

Spicy Winter Fruit Pudding