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Summer Pudding

(recipe, Keri Fisher)


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Introduction

This English classic is a no-cook version of trifle. Read more about no-bake summertime desserts in Keri Fisher's article "Chill out."

Ingredients

  1. 1 loaf hearty white bread, crusts removed and sliced into ½-inch-thick squares or rectangles
  2. 1 packet (2½ teaspoons) gelatin
  3. ¼ cup lemon juice
  4. 1 cup sugar
  5. 6 cups mixed berries (if using strawberries, hulled and quartered)
  6. 1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or other fruit-flavored liqueur
  7. 1 Tbsp. confectioners’ sugar (optional)
  8. Whipped cream (optional)

Steps

  1. Line a large glass or ceramic bowl (1½ liters is a good size) with plastic wrap, leaving plenty of overhang on the sides. (When the pudding is finished, you will use the plastic wrap to remove the pudding from the bowl.) Line the bowl with two-thirds of the bread slices.
  2. In a medium saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over the lemon juice and let it bloom for one minute. Add the sugar and berries and cook over medium heat until the juices are released and come to a boil. Continue to cook for one minute. Add the liqueur.
  3. Pour the warm berry mixture into the prepared bowl and top with the remaining bread (you may have some scraps left over). Pull the plastic wrap over the top to cover. Top with a plate filled with a one-pound weight (like a block of butter) and refrigerate until set, at least 4 and up to 48 hours.
  4. Turn out the pudding just before serving: Remove the weight and the plate, peel back the plastic wrap, and turn the compressed pudding out onto a serving plate (you may have to pull slightly on the plastic wrap to get the bowl off). Gently remove the plastic wrap and discard.
  5. Just before serving, sprinkle the pudding with the confectioners' sugar (if you sprinkle it too soon, it will dissolve into the cake). Serve with whipped cream, if you like.

Note

The most traditional way to make summer pudding is to layer the fruit sauce with the bread, instead of wrapping the bread around a fruit filling. The layering method distributes the fruit juices more evenly through the bread.