This Summer Pudding is definitely worthy of being post number 100.

As usual I hacked up someone else’s recipe as I went along; in this case a recipe by Sophie Grigson for the BBC at https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/summerpudding_90295.

Sorry no picture because we ate it! But it was just as good, and just a yummy as the one in Sophie Grigson’s recipe (below). Indeed it came out far better than I had expected.

Ingredients

• 400g punnet Strawberries
• 225g punnet Raspberries
• 200g punnet Blackberries
• 150g punnet Blueberries
• 160g Granulated Sugar
• ½ wine glass very sticky blackberry liqueur
• Loaf White Bread
• Sunflower oil or Butter for greasing

What to do …

1. Wash the fruit. Hull the strawberries and halve any large ones
2. Put all the fruit in a pan with the sugar and liqueur.
3. Simmer very gently for about 5 minutes to get the juices running, then turn up the heat and cook for another 2 minutes. Take off the heat and allow to cool a bit.
4. Meanwhile, grease a large pudding basin.
5. Cut the bread into 1cm slices and remove the crusts.
6. Cut a piece of bread to fit the bottom of the basin. Then cut pieces (rectangles, triangles) to fit the sides of the basin without any gaps. Remember to cut a piece to make the lid.
7. Carefully strain the juice from the fruit; be careful not to mash the fruit.
8. Starting at the bottom, dip one side of each piece of bread in the fruit juice and put in the basin, juice side out. Continue until you’ve done all the pieces of bread. If there are now gaps (the bread may shrink slightly) fill them with more slivers of juiced bread.
9. Now tip the fruit into the basin.
10. Dip the lid in the juice, and pour the remaining juice in with the fruit.
11. Put on the lid.
12. On top of the lid place a plate or saucer which fits closely, and weight it down with 1-2kg weights (or use tins of soup, beans, etc.).
13. Leave to fully cool, then put in the fridge overnight.
14. The next day, remove the weights and the plate/saucer. Run a thin blade around the edges, then invert the basin onto a shallow serving plate.
15. Cut into thick slices and serve with double cream.

Notes

• You can use any summer fruit. Blackcurrants are especially good and in my view preferable to blueberries; redcurrants and white currants work well. You could also use sliced peaches, nectarines or apricots.
• So you don’t have blackberry liqueur? Use Cassis, which is more traditional anyway.
• Don’t worry if the fruit doesn’t come to the top of the bread case – as mine didn’t because I used too large a bowl. Just turn the sides over and cut the lid down to fit the remaining space.