Summer Pudding

There’s virtually no fat in this traditional British dessert and if you use good ripe fruit you don’t need much sugar either. A large white sandwich loaf works a treat for the bread casing.

A delightful summer pudding with a pink sponge base and berry filling, garnished with fresh berries on top and rich berry sauce dripping down, is placed elegantly on a white plate. Forks and plates in the background hint at good eating to come.

Summer pudding - 📷 Andrew Hayes-Watkins

Info

Serves
6 people
Prep time
20 minutes, plus chilling time
Cooking time
10 minutes
Calories
131 per serving

Ingredients

  • oil, for spraying
  • 6 slices of white bread, crusts removed
  • 300g strawberries, hulled and cut up if large
  • 200g raspberries
  • 200g blueberries
  • 100g redcurrants, stalks removed, plus extra to garnish if you like
  • 1–2 tbsp caster sugar
  • low-fat crème fraiche - optional

Method

  1. Lightly spray a 900ml pudding basin with oil, and line it with cling film.

  2. Take a slice of bread and cut it into a round that will fit into the bottom of the basin. Cut the rest of the slices into thirds, widthways and use most of these to line the sides. Overlap them very slightly with one another and the base to ensure there are no gaps and press the bread down as much as possible. You should have a couple of slices left over to put on top of the fruit.

  3. Put all the fruit in a saucepan and sprinkle over a tablespoon of sugar. Add 3 tablespoons of water. Heat slowly, giving the sugar time to dissolve, then simmer very gently until the fruit is lightly cooked and has given out a lot of juice. The liquid should be a deep reddish purple. Stir as little as possible to avoid breaking up the fruit – you will find that most of the raspberries will break up anyway but that’s fine, as they will provide juice for the pudding.

  4. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar, a teaspoon at a time and tasting after each addition, until you are happy with the flavour. Ladle some of the fruit juice into the bottom of the basin and allow it to soak into the bread. Then with a slotted spoon, transfer all the fruit to the pudding basin. Pour in as much of the juice as possible, without it overflowing, then top with the remaining bread. Put a saucer on top of the pudding and weight it down with something heavy, such as a can of tomatoes. Put the pudding in the fridge and leave it for several hours, preferably overnight. Save any leftover juice for covering white patches and serving with the pudding.

  5. When you are ready to serve, place a serving plate upside-down on top of the basin and turn the basin over to unmould the pudding. Carefully peel off the cling film. Cover any white patches with leftover fruit juice and garnish with extra berries if you have some. Serve with dollops of low-fat crème fraiche, if you like, but don’t forget to add the extra calories.