Name: Summer pudding
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 300g strawberry; 250g blackberry; 100g redcurrant; 500g raspberry; OR 1.25kg/2lb 12oz mixed berries and currants of your choice; 175g golden caster sugar; 7 slices day-old white bread from a square, medium-cut loaf

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Summer pudding

Summer pudding

Lulu Grimes

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Serves 8

Easy

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 10 mins

Plus chilling

A star rating of 4.9 out of 5.47 ratingsRate

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This quintessentially British pud, packed with juicy summer berries, is so much easier than it looks, perfect for beginners

Vegetarian

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Tomato tart with cheddar crust

A star rating of 2.6 out of 5.7 ratings

Lulu's tips for making the perfect summer pudding:

I suggest using the following equipment for this recipe: 1.25-litre pudding basin, cling film, sharp knife, chopping board, large pan, large bowl, large sieve, kitchen scissors, side plate, serving plate and one or two cans for weighting down.
If you’re worried about the caster sugar not dissolving properly in the pan, keep the heat low and be patient—it can take a little longer than you might expect. Stir gently until there’s no grittiness left at the bottom.
Mix up the berries if you wish - pitted cherries and blackcurrants (if you can find them) both make great additions. I also recommend adding 1-2 tablespoons of damson gin, sloe gin or Cassis for a boozy twist.
If you find any white patches or bread showing through once you’ve turned out your pudding, simply spoon over some of the leftover berry juice or add a few extra strawberries to cover up any imperfections.

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

300g strawberry
250g blackberry
100g redcurrant
500g raspberry
OR 1.25kg/2lb 12oz mixed berries and currants

of your choice
175g golden caster sugar
7 slices day-old white bread

from a square, medium-cut loaf

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Nutrition: per serving

kcal248
fat1g
saturates0g
carbs57g
sugars43g
fibre9g
protein6g
salt0.45g

low

Method

step 1

Bring out the juices: Wash fruit and gently dry on kitchen paper – keep strawberries separate. Put sugar and 3 tbsp water into a large pan. Gently heat until sugar dissolves – stir a few times. Bring to a boil for 1 min, then tip in the fruit (not strawberries). Cook for 3 mins over a low heat, stirring 2-3 times. The fruit will be softened, mostly intact and surrounded by dark red juice. Put a sieve over a bowl and tip in the fruit and juice.
step 2

Line the bowl with cling film and prepare the bread: Line the 1.25-litre basin with cling film as this will help you to turn out the pudding. Overlap two pieces of cling film in the middle of the bowl as it’s easier than trying to get one sheet to stick to all of the curves. Let the edges overhang by about 15cm. Cut the crusts off the bread. Cut 4 pieces of bread in half, a little on an angle, to give 2 lopsided rectangles per piece. Cut 2 slices into 4 triangles each and leave the final piece whole.
step 3

Build the pud: Dip the whole piece of bread into the juice for a few secs just to coat. Push this into the bottom of the basin. Now dip the wonky rectangular pieces one at a time and press around the basin’s sides so that they fit together neatly, alternately placing wide and narrow ends up. If you can’t quite fit the last piece of bread in it doesn’t matter, just trim into a triangle, dip in juice and slot in. Now spoon in the softened fruit, adding the strawberries here and there as you go.
step 4

Let flavours mingle then serve: Dip the bread triangles in juice and place on top – trim off overhang with scissors. Keep leftover juice for later. Bring cling film up and loosely seal. Put a side plate on top and weight down with cans. Chill for 6 hrs or overnight. To serve, open out cling film then put a serving plate upside-down on top and flip over. serve with leftover juice, any extra berries and cream.

RECIPE TIPS

SPICED APPLE BERRY PUDDING

Use spiced fruit loaf instead of white bread to line the basin. Heat sugar and water together, then gently cook 2 large peeled cored and chopped cooking apples for 5 mins until softened. Add 850g mixed blackberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and raspberries and 1⁄2 tsp mixed spice and cook for a few mins until the fruit softens. Build the pud and serve with vanilla ice-cream.

APRICOT BERRY BRIOCHE PUDDING

For a decadent twist, add 3 tbsp crème de cassis or framboise to the sugar in the pan instead of water. Gently cook about 650g halved and stoned apricots in the syrup for 5 mins, then add about 650g mixed raspberries, blackberries and currants and cook for a few mins more. Line the basin with cling film as before then layer up the fruit and juice- soaked slices of brioche from a large loaf, rather than lining the sides with it. Wrap and weight down the pudding.

Lulu Grimes

As Managing Editor for Good Food, Lulu has extensive magazine editorial experience, including roles at olive, Food and Travel and Sainsbury's Magazine, as well as Murdoch Books in Sydney. She has also written for The Sydney Morning Herald, taught food writing and published several cookbooks. Read her weekly Substack: Taste. Test. Repeat. and see more of Lulu's recipes

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Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2007

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A star rating of 4.9 out of 5.47 ratings

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