Last of the Summer Pudding

As the nights start to draw in and the temperature drops we think it's time for one last fling with summer. Gather those berries and throw together a summer pudding. Goes down a treat every time!

Ingredients
500g Raspberries
300g Strawberries
250g Blackberries
100g Redcurrants
but in fairness it doesn't matter mix it up, use frozen if you like!
175g Caster Sugar
7 slices of bread

Wash fruit – keep strawberries separate. 
Put sugar and 3 tbsp water into a large pan. Gently heat until sugar dissolves – stir a few times. 
Bring to a boil for 1 min, then tip in the fruit (not strawberries). 
Cook for 3 mins over a low heat, stirring 2-3 times. The fruit will be softened, mostly intact and surrounded by dark red juice. Put a sieve over a bowl and tip in the fruit and juice.

Line the 1.25-litre basin with cling film as this will help you to turn out the pudding. Overlap two pieces in the middle of the bowl as it’s easier than trying to get one sheet to stick to all of the curves. Let the edges overhang by about 15cm. 
Cut the crusts off the bread. Cut 4 pieces of bread in half, a little on an angle, to give 2 lopsided rectangles per piece. Cut 2 slices into 4 triangles each and leave the final piece whole.

Dip the whole piece of bread into the juice for a few secs just to coat. 
Push this into the bottom of the basin. 
Dip the wonky rectangular pieces one at a time and press around the basin’s sides so that they fit together neatly, alternately placing wide and narrow ends up. 
If you can’t quite fit the last piece of bread in it doesn’t matter, just trim into a triangle, dip in juice and slot in. Now spoon in the softened fruit, adding the strawberries here and there as you go.
Dip the bread triangles in juice and place on top – trim off overhang with scissors. 
Keep leftover juice for later. 
Bring cling film up and loosely seal. Put a side plate on top and weight down with cans. 
Chill for 6 hrs or overnight. 

To serve, open out cling film then put a serving plate upside-down on top and flip over. serve with leftover juice, any extra berries and cream.

Broken Glass Cake!

I can't help it, I see a wacky recipe and begin to look for an excuse to bake it... except this time there was no baking involved! A refreshing summer pudding and the perfect party alternative to jelly and ice-cream (a lot more grown up). The recipe itself is one that was run on the back of Jello packets in America in 1950s. It's easy to make but takes time to set so make a day ahead.

Recipe

2 packets of jelly (4 half packets for lots of colour really) choose your favourites
300ml whipping cream
100ml pineapple juice
1/2tsp powdered gelatine
1/2tsp vanilla extract

• Make the jelly up as per the packet instructions and chill until set
• Put the pineapple juice in a sauce pan and sprinkle with gelatine, allow to dissolve
• Heat this gently until melted, remove from heat and add 50ml of cold water, leave to cool (not set)
• Whip the cream and vanilla until stiff peaks are formed.
• Whisk in the pineapple mixture.
• Chop the jelly into cubes
• Add to cream but DO NOT mix as this will cause your jelly to break up
• Pour into a lined 6" cake tin and leave to set preferably overnight but at least for 3 hours 

This really is a delightful pudding. One which I think will be a big hit with the kids tonight and possibly a big hit with the adults! So here's to summer, get the BBQ going and have yourself a broken glass cake for dessert!