Summer pudding

It’s going to be a long day today, the longest all year, in fact. The word solstice comes from the Latin (sol, sun; sistere, to stand still), to suggest that the sun stands still. Sometimes it seems as though it is indeed standing still in the sky, stretching the days into endless midsummer evenings, leaving us plenty of time to sit around a table and relax over good food and wine.

The longer daylight hours also work their magic on summer’s crops, so now is the time to celebrate the fresh ripe fruits such as strawberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries and cherries that are helping us to forget the months that we spent inside existing on stored apples and pears.

The crowning glory of an English summer is, of course, the summer pud itself. Apparently it started life in British spas and nursing homes, where it was served to the patients as an alternative to heavy puddings made with pastry. According to Larousse Gastronomique, it was known as “hydropathic” pudding, not, perhaps, as seductive a name as summer pudding.

It is best to make it a day ahead, allowing the juices to ooze into the bread, turning the lot into a juicy, vividly berry-red dome. It is also relatively easy to make, as long as you don’t get too fussed about perfect trapezoids of bread and the delicate art of construction.

It all seems to come together if you leave it to set overnight anyway. Even if it doesn’t, a messy, fall-apart summer pud is better than no summer pud.

Ingredients
Serves 6

Prep: 30 mins plus overnight

1kg mixed fresh berries (especially raspberries and redcurrants)
50ml water
175g caster sugar
8 or so stale slices good white bread, thinly sliced

METHOD

Combine three quarters of the berries with the water and sugar in a small saucepan and gently heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove, and add more sugar if too tart. Add almost all of the remaining berries and strain the fruit, keeping all the juices.

Remove the crusts from the bread and cut a piece to fit the base of a onelitre pudding basin or bowl. Cut the remaining slices into triangles or rectangles to cover the sides of the bowl. Now that you have assembled the shell, take each cut slice, dip it lightly into the reserved juices and return it to its position in the bowl.

Add the berries, and some of their juices, and top with a final layer of bread, cutting to fit. Press lightly until the juices rise to the top, covering the bread. Place a saucer on top, weight it with a can, and refrigerate overnight. Refrigerate the remaining juices as well.

To unmould, ease a knife between pudding and bowl, place a serving plate on top and invert. Spoon the reserved juices on top and arrange the reserved berries on top. Serve with crème fraîche, pouring cream or yoghurt.

jill.dupleix@thetimes.co.uk