Summer Pudding

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1-litre pudding basin
• •Wide saucepan
• •Palette knife
• •Small plate and a heavy weight for pressing

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften the currants

   Put the redcurrants and blackcurrants in a wide pan with the sugar and the cold water. Set it over a low heat and let it come slowly up to a whisper of a simmer, stirring now and then. You'll hear the currants start to pop against the side of the pan, a small sound, easy to miss if you've wandered off. When the sugar has dissolved and the juices are running dark and glossy, take it off the heat. Two, maybe three minutes. No longer.

   Taste the juice. It should be sweet but still sharp enough to make your mouth water. If it tastes like jam, the sugar has won and you've gone too far.
2. 2

   Add the soft fruit

   Tip the strawberries and raspberries into the warm currants and fold them through gently with a wooden spoon. The residual heat will soften them just enough to bleed their colour into the pan without collapsing them entirely. You want the raspberries to hold their shape. Let it all sit for five minutes so the juices mingle.

3. 3

   Line the basin

   Cut a round of bread to fit the bottom of a 1-litre pudding basin. Cut the remaining slices into wedges, the kind of shape you'd cut a cake into. One at a time, dip each piece briefly into the berry juice so one side is stained deep pink, then press it into the basin, juice-side out, overlapping the edges so there are no gaps. Work around the sides until the basin is completely lined. Patch any pale spots with smaller scraps. It doesn't need to be neat. It needs to be sealed.

   Day-old bread is better than fresh. Fresh bread turns to paste when it meets the juice. A loaf that has sat on the counter overnight holds its shape.
4. 4

   Fill and lid

   Spoon the fruit and most of the juice into the bread-lined basin, pressing gently so it settles. Keep back a small cupful of juice in the fridge for tomorrow, you'll want it. Lay the last pieces of bread over the top, trimming to cover the fruit completely. This is the base of the pudding once it's turned out, so press it down firmly.

5. 5

   Press overnight

   Cover the basin with cling film or a small plate that fits snugly inside the rim. Put something heavy on top. A tin of tomatoes, a jar of jam, whatever the cupboard offers. Into the fridge it goes. Overnight, at least. The weight drives the juices through every piece of bread until there's no white left, only deep, saturated ruby. This is the whole trick of the pudding and it happens entirely without you.

6. 6

   Turn out and serve

   Take the pudding from the fridge. Lift off the weight, peel back the cling film, and run a palette knife around the inside of the basin. Place a deep plate upside down over the top, then invert the whole thing in one confident movement. Lift the basin away. If you see any pale patches where the juice didn't quite reach, brush them with the juice you held back. Scatter the extra raspberries over the top. Bring it to the table with a jug of cold double cream and let people help themselves.

   Confidence is the thing. A tentative turn-out is a stuck pudding. Commit to the flip.

Chef Tips

• •The bread matters more than anything else here. A good white loaf from a proper baker, a day or two old, with a close, tight crumb. Avoid anything too airy or too fresh. Sliced supermarket bread will do at a pinch, but you'll taste the difference.
• •Get the balance of fruit right. You want sharpness as much as sweetness, which means currants are not optional. Blackcurrants and redcurrants bring the backbone. The raspberries and strawberries bring the perfume. A pudding made only of soft red fruit tastes one-note and flat.
• •Don't cook the berries too long. You're coaxing the juice out, not making jam. Three or four minutes on a gentle heat is plenty. The raspberries barely need any heat at all, which is why they go in at the end.
• •Serve it with double cream from a jug. Not whipped cream, not ice cream, not creme fraiche. Cold, thick, yellow-gold double cream poured around the base so it pools and mingles with the juice. That's the pudding.
• •A tablespoon of creme de cassis stirred into the warm berries is not traditional, but it is a quietly excellent thing if you happen to have a bottle in the cupboard.

Advance Preparation

• •Summer pudding must be made at least eight hours ahead, and ideally the night before. It cannot be hurried. The pressing is the whole point.
• •Once turned out, it keeps in the fridge for up to two days, though it's at its best on the first. The bread can turn a little soft by day three.
• •The fruit mixture alone can be cooked a day ahead and kept in the fridge. Warm it through very gently before assembling the pudding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 210g)