Quick Summer Pudding Food

SIMPLE SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Mix the first 3 ingredients and leave for 5-10 mins. If you're using defrosted fruit, tip in some of the juice, too. Meanwhile, line a 1.2 litre pudding basin with cling film, leaving an overhang. Cut a circle of bread to fit the base, then quarter the rest.
• Drain the juices from the soaked fruit into a bowl, dip the bread in until soaked. Layer up the fruit and bread, pour over the remaining juices and cover with the overhanging cling film - weigh down with a small plate and a couple of cans. Chill in the fridge for 10 mins or until ready to eat. Serve with single cream.

SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Bring out the juices: Wash fruit and gently dry on kitchen paper - 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 bowl with cling film and prepare the bread: Line the 1.25-litre basin with cling film as this will help you to turn out the pudding. Overlap two pieces of cling film 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.
• Build the pud: Dip the whole piece of bread into the juice for a few secs just to coat. Push this into the bottom of the basin. Now 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.
• Let flavours mingle then serve: 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.

SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Line the bottom of a 2- to 2 1/2-quart bowl with bread, tearing bread as necessary to completely cover bottom without overlapping. Halve remaining bread slices lengthwise. Line sides of bowl with overlapping bread slices (reserve some for covering the top); trim bread flush with top of bowl.
• Combine berries, sugar, cinnamon, and 1/4 cup water in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, gently stirring a few times, just until berries start to soften and currants begin to burst and release their juices. Do not let mixture boil. Remove from heat. Let cool 10 minutes.
• Pour berry mixture into bowl and cover with a single layer of remaining bread slices, tearing bread as necessary to fill in any gaps. Place a round dish or pan slightly smaller than the diameter of the bowl on top of bread, and press down on plate until juices rise to surface. Place a heavy can or other weight on top of plate. Transfer to refrigerator and let chill at least 12 hours and up to 1 day.
• Remove weighted plate from basin. Run a thin knife around edge between bread and bowl. Invert onto a rimmed serving plate and lift bowl to release pudding. Stir together mascarpone and cream in a bowl until smooth, then whisk to soft peaks. Cut pudding into wedges and serve with whipped mascarpone cream.

EASY SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Place the fruit in a pan. Remove the stems from the redcurrants (if using) with a fork, pour the sugar over the fruit and stir gently to mix together.
• If you have time, cover the pan with a tea towel or cling film and leave for 3-5 hours (or overnight) to get the juices running. Place the pan over a moderate heat and bring gently up to the boil.
• While the fruit is simmering, cut the bread into thin slices and remove the crusts.
• When the juices are beginning to flow, raise the heat slightly and simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Then turn off the heat and stir in the cassis or blackcurrant cordial.
• Cut a round out of one slice of bread to fit the bottom of the bowl, then cut the remaining slices into triangular wedges.
• Dip one side of the bread circle into the juices in the pan containing the fruit, then place the circle in the bottom of the pudding basin, juice-side down. Do the same with the bread triangles, dipping one side of the bread into the juices before placing them around the edge of the bowl, with the dipped side facing outwards. The tips of the bread triangles will be sticking up from the top of the bowl at this stage.
• Once the bowl is completely lined with the juice-soaked bread (be sure to plug any gaps with small pieces of bread if necessary), spoon all of the fruit and its juices into the pudding basin. Trim the tips of bread from around the edge. Cover the top of the fruit with more wedges of bread. Place the pudding basin on a plate to collect any juices.
• Find a saucer that fits neatly inside the bowl. Place it on top to cover the upper layer of bread, then weigh the saucer down with weights - bags of rice, tins of baked beans, or whatever comes to hand. Let it cool, then place in the fridge overnight.
• The next day, remove the weights and the saucer. Run a thin blade around the edges, then invert the basin onto a shallow serving plate.
• Turn the pudding out, cut into thick slices and serve the summer pudding with cream.

SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• The day before you plan to serve the pudding, line a 2 quart mixing bowl with plastic wrap. Line the plastic wrap with the white bread slices, trimming to fit so that the pieces fit together neatly. Save enough bread to cover the top of the pudding.
• In a saucepan, combine the apple juice concentrate and all the berries. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the strawberries begin to soften, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat immediately.
• Stirring, dissolve the gelatin in the water, then add the mixture to the berries and stir to combine. Spoon into the bread-lined bowl. Cover with remaining bread slices, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and slightly weight it down. Chill overnight.
• When ready to serve, whip the cream with an electric mixer at high speed until it forms soft peaks.
• Remove the pudding from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Carefully turn the pudding out onto a platter, remove the bowl and the plastic wrap. Serve in slices with whipped cream on top.

QUICK SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Using separate saucepans, cook the berries with one-half cup sugar each for five minutes, or until soft.
• Line a two-and-a-half quart pudding bowl with the bread slices, leaving no gaps in between for the juices to run out. Put in a layer of the raspberry mixture, then the blueberry and blackberry, alternating until the bowl is full. Do not pour in all the fruit juice; reserve it to patch up any white spots on the bread later.
• Cover the pudding with the remaining bread and top with a plate that just fits inside the bowl. Put weights on top and refrigerate at least six hours, until an hour before you're ready to eat.
• Turn the pudding upside down onto a round serving dish. Patch up any white spots with the remaining fruit juice. Decorate with berries and serve. Pass the cream separately.

QUICK RAISIN PUDDING

Steps:

• Mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, raisns and milk in a greased casserole dish.
• Sprinkle remaining brown sugar and nutmeg on top of batter and dot with butter.
• Pour on the boiling water.
• Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

EASY SUMMER PUDDING

Steps:

• Wash and prepare the fruits carefully.
• Place the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.
• Add the fruits and cook gently for a few minutes - do not boil rapidly.
• Allow the mix to cool and check for sweetness - add more sugar if required.
• Take 8 individual pudding moulds and line with cling film.
• Remove the crusts from the bread.
• Take 8 slices of the bread and cut them in half to form oblongs.
• Line the insides of the moulds with the oblongs.
• On 2 slices cut them into quarters to make squares to line the bottom of the moulds - there should not be any gaps.
• Spoon carefully into the moulds the fruit mixture to the top.
• Keep back some of the juice from the fruits.
• With the remaining bread cut out circles big enough to cover the whole of the mould.
• Place the bread lids on top and fold over the cling film.
• Place the moulds on a tray and place another tray on top.
• Place weights on top of the tray and refrigerate the puddings over night.
• Turn out the puddings and remove the cling film.
• With a pastry brush give the puddings a gentle coat of the saved juices of the fruit. If there are any white bits still showing this will cover them up.
• Serve chilled with pouring cream.

MINI SUMMER PUDDINGS

Steps:

• Strip berries from their stalks and hull strawberries. Discard any that are squashy or overripe. Toss berries gently in a nonstick saucepan with sugar and Cassis or water. Heat the pan until it starts to sizzle. Cook over a medium heat for 2-3 mins or until the fruits start to bleed and soften.
• Stir gently, then cool to room temperature. Strain fruit through a plastic sieve into a non-metallic bowl for about 10 mins or until the juices stop dripping.
• Have 8 cappuccino or tea cups (about 200ml) ready. Using 2 cutters (approx 10cm and 6cm, but check against the tops and bottoms of your cups), cut out 8 bread rounds of each size. Cut the crusts off 8 more slices and slice in half. These strips should be approximately the same depth as the cups.
• Dip the small rounds of bread into the reserved juices and press into the cups. Dip the straight slices in the juice and press around the sides. Spoon in the fruits, pressing down with the back of a spoon to firm. Dip the last of the bread rounds into the juice; press down on top. Chill overnight.
• When ready to serve, loosen bread tops with the tip of a table knife. Hold a dessert plate over the pudding, then turn upside down, shaking well. The puddings should slip out easily; if not, loosen the sides gently with the knife. Pour any remaining juice over the tops of puddings. Decorate with the remaining fruit; serve with pouring cream.