Angela's summer pudding

Angela's summer pudding

Angela Nilsen discovers a stunning new way for a classic fruity British dessert

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes 1½ hours, plus overnight chilling

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian, Low-fat

Method

  1. Firstly, get all the fruit ready. Hull the strawberries and cut them in halves or quarters depending on how big they are. Strip the blackcurrants and redcurrants from their stalks in one fell swoop by running a fork down the length of each stem - keep both the currants separate from the other fruits.
  2. Tip the sugar into a wide, not too deep, saucepan. Measure in 3 tbsp water and the cassis. Put the pan on a low heat and cook, stirring often, until you can no longer hear the crunch of sugar grains on the bottom of the pan. When the sugar is dissolved, turn up the heat to medium-high and let the mixture bubble away for about 8 minutes. It will go quite syrupy and you want to catch it just before it starts to change colour or caramelise.
  3. Now tip the blackcurrants and redcurrants into the hot syrup, it will feel quite sticky at first, then bring everything back up to a lively simmer and let it bubble again for no more than a minute, just to lightly burst and soften the currants without losing their shape. Take the pan off the heat and leave until it is barely warm.
  4. Gently stir in the strawberries and raspberries - a large metal spoon is best so they don't break up - and let the fruity mixture sit for about half an hour so the juices all mix in.
  5. Cut 4-5 slices from the loaf, about 5mm thick, and trim off the crusts. Cut a little square (about 4cm) from one slice and put it in the bottom of a 1.2 litre pudding basin. Using a big slotted spoon, put a layer of fruit (about 3 spoonfuls) over the bread. Next lay a slice of bread in the centre over the fruit trimming to fit and fill any gaps with trimmings of bread so the fruit is covered. Continue layering with more fruit, more bread, then a final layer of fruit so it comes to within a hair's breadth of the top of the basin. Spoon over a few spoonfuls of juice - not too much or it will ooze out when weighted down. (You should have about 4 spoonfuls of fruit and juice left for making a sauce.) Cover the fruit with a final layer of bread, press down to compact everything, then cover with cling film. Lay a saucer on top and weight down with heavy cans or weights. Stand the basin on a plate in case any juices spill out, then leave in the fridge overnight, or for a minimum of five hours. Press the leftover fruits and juice through a metal sieve to make a sauce, keep chilled. (You can freeze the pudding and the sauce at this stage for up to a month.)
  6. To turn out, go round the edge of the pudding with a round-bladed knife to release it, then invert it on to a plate. Cut into slices with a serrated knife and serve with a drizzle of the fruit sauce and cream.

245 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 55g, fat 1 g, saturated fat 0g, fibre 5g, sugar 35g, salt 0.29 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2002.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Ann Marcelis

    23 January 2008

    Ann Marcelis rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Best ever!

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  • Binder photo Sylvie

    06 July 2008

    Sylvie commented on this recipe

    I have never made Summer Pudding before - the outer wall of bread makes them look bland.But this looked special and it certainly was. Absolutely delicious.I couldn't find the red and black currants, so I used blackberries and cherries instead. So thankyou Angela.

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  • Binder photo momofarge

    11 July 2008

    momofarge commented on this recipe

    Try making summer pudding with brioche. It's delicious!

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  • Binder photo Eleanor Hickie

    06 August 2008

    Eleanor Hickie commented on this recipe

    I dislike the texture of bread in Summer Pudding,I always use thinly sliced sponge cake but using Brioche or other breads will certainly make things more interesting,what about Pannetone?

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  • Binder photo Rosita

    29 July 2009

    Rosita commented on this recipe

    I also dislike the texture of bread in a Summer Pudding and was wondering if you could use sponge fingers as an option ?

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  • Binder photo Tiny

    28 September 2009

    Tiny rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Skipped the bread altogether and went straight for the brioche as recommended! This was absolutely divine. Used a good mix of fruit including blackberries and cherries as well as raspberries, strawberries, and red & blackcurrants. It takes a while to make with the overnight chilling (make sure you stand the bowl on a plate as the juices WILL spill out!) but is well worth it. I served it with creme fraiche sweetened with a little icing sugar and flavoured with vanilla instead of the double cream. worked really well and will definitely be making it again.

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  • Binder photo cherrytree

    12 July 2010

    cherrytree commented on this recipe

    This is the best summer pudding recipe ever. I have been making it since the recipe was first published in Good Food and now wouldn't use any other. The method of using bread inside the pudding rather than on the outside is inspired and completely overcomes the soggy bread problem. I don't use brioche, preferring to stick tightly to the original as I think the density and sweetness of all the fruit is quite sufficient. The ultimate accolade was when a French friend took the recipe home. A truly spectacular pudding that looks just like the picture.

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  • Binder photo Linda

    12 October 2010

    Linda rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Exellent recipe, yummy ! Greatly improved by layering the bread inside the pudding rather than on the outside. Works well using two 500 gm packs of frozen summer fruits. Haven't yet tried it using brioche !

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  • Binder photo Helshug

    02 June 2012

    Helshug rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have made this summer pudding several times, I just love the way you layer the fruit rather than faffing about trying to line the dish, it's so much easier :) I have tried different fruits and it always seems to work, I have even tried autumn fruits such as apples, pears, plums etc, not quite as colourful but still very tasty.

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  • Binder photo Michael

    14 September 2012

    Michael rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I am not a great fan of summer pudding especially with the bread up the sides of the bowl. This version was amazing, and very tasty

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  • Binder photo sue mcdonagh

    26 November 2012

    sue mcdonagh rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    made this in rather too large pudding basin, using choc chip brioche rolls, halved lengthways, and frozen fruits. Struggled to find a saucer to fit, ended up with plant pot saucer! Placed bag of potatoes on top. Turned it out apprehensively at the table - it spread a bit, but held it's shape. It was utterly delicious. I served it as a low fat alternative to sticky toffee pudding, with half fat creme fraiche - there was hardly any left!

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  • Binder photo sue mcdonagh

    26 November 2012

    sue mcdonagh commented on this recipe

    Oh, and couldn't get any cassis, so used a miniature of cointreau :)

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Takes 1½ hours, plus overnight chilling

Vegetarian Freezable

Vegetarian, Low-fat

Fabulously fruity

Ingredients

  • 1.15kg British summer fruits (Angela liked 350g/12oz raspberries, 350g/12oz small strawberries, 300g/10oz blackcurrants, 175g/6oz redcurrants, but this is not definitive - experiment with your own blend and try mixing in loganberries and tayberries)
  • 175g golden caster sugar
  • 5 tbsp Crème de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) or crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)
  • 2-3 day-old small unsliced farmhouse white loaf of bread (you will need about 5 slices)
  • double cream , to serve
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245 kcalories, protein 4g, carbohydrate 55g, fat 1 g, saturated fat 0g, fibre 5g, sugar 35g, salt 0.29 g

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