Blink and you will have missed the first half of 2019 like I have. Where on earth did January to June go? Here we are in July, the height of the summer and at last the time when we all can enjoy the very best of the summer berries.
Personally, I like nothing better than a classic Summer Pudding but rather than bread, I do prefer to make it with slices of brioche for that extra richness. There are many recipes available on line however, my own is simply divine and very quick too. One must have a regular tin of beans to hand to weigh it down but apart from that rather out of sorts ingredient, the rest is as follows:
Summer Pudding Loaf
Serves: 6
Prep Time: Overnight
Cook Time: 10 minutes or less
Ingredients
- An 850ml pudding basin
- 1 large brioche loaf
- 250g English strawberries, stalk removed and cut into quarters
- 250g English raspberries
- 250g English blueberries
- 250g English blackberries
- 100g English redcurrantsplus homemade raspberry coulis (coulis is just a posh word for a sauce)
- 500g frozen raspberries
- 50g icing sugar
- 100ml water
Method
- Put the coulis ingredients in a saucepan, bring to the boil, remove from the heat and then either blitz with a hand blender / magi mix or press through a sieve with the back of a spoon! Voila, raspberry coulis!!
- Put half of the coulis aside for the fruit and use half for the bread.
- Line the pudding basin with clingfilm, so that a little bit is overhanging.
- Cut the Brioche loaf into slices of about 5mm thick and carefully and dip one side into the coulis (retain a few slices without dipping for topping off the pudding). Place the dipped slices into the bowl, with the red side facing the glass and repeat until the whole bowl is lined.
- Now take your remaining coulis mix and fold the fruit into it until it is fully covered. You don’t want the mixture to be too wet, so it’s best not to add all the coulis at once, but a little at a time until you have a firm but wet mix. Pour the mixture on to the bread in the bowl right up to the top.
- Place the last few slices of bread over the fruit mix until all the fruit is covered.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the bread, then a plate that fits perfectly inside the bowl. Now place the tin of beans on top to weight the bread down. Place in a fridge for up to 24 hours to allow the bread and fruit to set.
- To serve, remove the beans, the plate and the parchment sheet. Carefully holding a plate over the dish, flip it over and with a slurp the summer pudding should free itself from its dish prison!
- All you need to do now is cut and serve with a good glug of cream on the side!
What’s in season?
Fruits & Nuts
Apples, Apricot, Aubergine, Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Blueberries, Loganberries, Peaches, Plums, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Strawberries, White currants, Cobnuts, Hazelnuts
Vegetables & Herbs
Artichokes, Aubergines, Beetroot, Broccoli, Cabbages, Carrots, Cauliflower, Chard, Courgettes, Cucumber, Fennel, French Beans, Garlic, Kohlrabi, Lamb’s Lettuce, Onions, Pak Choi, Peas (inc. Sugar Snaps) Potatoes, Radishes, Rocket, Runner Beans, Salsify, Scorzonera, Samphire, Sorrel, Spinach, Sweetcorn, Tomatoes, Watercress
Meat & Game
Lamb, Rabbit, Venison, Wood Pigeon
Fish & Shellfish
Black Bream, Crab (brown, hen & Spider), Signal Crayfish, Grey Mullet, Lobster, Mackerel, Pollack, Prawns, Scallops, Sea Bass, Squid, Trout (river – brown and rainbow)
Going out of season:
Blackberries, Blueberries, Cherry, Mangetout, Peach, Redcurrant, Strawberries (many of these towards the end of the month)
This article first appeared in the July 2019 issue of SE22 magazine.