English Summer Pudding

By Hklbrries

Note: Most Summer Pudding recipes call for removing the crusts from the brioche, but we liked it just as well with them on. Brioche is a rich yeast bread made with eggs, butter and sugar. You can use any dense, rich, sweet bread. Make this recipe a day ahead to give the bread plenty of time to soak up the fruit juice.


To Jon Ashton, cooking is not just about cooking, it's also about living well. Here what he’s cooking this month: England’s Famous Summer Cake As a child, there really wasn’t anything more thrilling than a summer picnic with Granny’s Summer Pudding. The neighbors would show up one by one, carrying English delicacies that were never quite up to Granny’s standards. Mrs. Smith brought egg sandwiches, but she neglected to remove the crusts. Aunt Betty brought her homemade scones, but Granny never approved of them either. She was a tad more accepting of Mrs. Rawlinson’s dishes, as she was more distracted by her bad attire. As the guests filed in, and the women set to gossiping, I would slip into the kitchen and have a peek at Granny’s Summer Pudding. For me, this pudding is the smell and taste of the English summer.

And the fact that it is so simple makes it even more brilliant. Fresh summer berries are warmed with sugar, their juices suffusing rich brioche bread that’s pressed into a bowl and filled with fruit. When left alone to chill in the fridge overnight, the pudding is transformed into a crimson-stained mound that oozes a cornucopia of juicy goodness when sliced open. Each summer, I salute Granny Ashton with a Summer Pudding that would make her proud.

By Relish Chef Jon Ashton

Ingredients

• 8 cups assorted berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries), divided
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 (18-oz) round brioche loaf
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• Ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

Mix 6 cups of berries with the water and sugar in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, until berries start to soften and sugar dissolves, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in 1 1/2 cups of remaining berries. Strain berry mixture, reserving all the juice and berries. Stir vanilla into juice. Line a 2-quart serving bowl with plastic wrap.

Cut a slice of brioche to fit the bottom of the bowl. Dip into juice and place in bottom of bowl. Cut the remaining brioche into wedges and dip each piece, one at a time, into juice.

Place three-fourths of the juice-soaked brioche wedges against the sides of bowl pressing to remove any gaps. Spoon berries into center. Top with remaining brioche wedges.

Cover with plastic wrap. Press down with your hands until juices rise to the top. Place a plate on top, and set weights on the plate (2 or 3 cans of soup work well). Refrigerate at least 8 hours.

To serve, remove weights, plate and top plastic wrap. Place a serving plate on top of bowl and quickly turn both over together, shaking gently, so that the pudding releases from the bowl. Remove plastic wrap. Cut into wedges and serve with remaining berries and whipped cream.

Nutrition Information:
Per serving
290 calories
4.5 g fat
35 mg cholesterol
310 mg sodium
61 g carbohydrates
5 g fiber
7 g protein