Summer Pudding In A Special Jacket
I love fruit, but I had a long-standing aversion to traditional summer pudding and to its more recently popularized cousins, autumn and winter puddings. The first summer pudding I ate was in the late Fifties, and it had been made using sliced white bread. I found the texture of the bread so unacceptable that 1 steadfastly avoided the pudding for years. I was coaxed into trying it with a jacket of brioche - better, I admit, but I still preferred to have the fruit on its own. Then a friend said she used a sponge cake to line the basin. Eureka! At last, something that was a more suitable partner to the fruit, especially sun-ripened summer ones. For the freshest, most fruity flavour, use a gentle heat that will coax the juices from the fruit, and use the ripest fruit you can to minimize the heating they need; the juice of really ripe red fruits will run without any heating at all— just sprinkle them with sugar and leave until the juice runs naturally. The fruits can, of course, be varied according to personal taste and what is available.
INGREDIENTS:
225 G18 0Z BLACKCURRANTS
CASTER SUGAR
700 G/1 1/2 LB MIXED RIPE RFT)
SUMMER FRUITS, SUCH AS
RASPBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES,
REDCURRANTS, STONED CHERRIES
8-10 SLICES SPONGE CAKE, PREFERABLY HOME-MADE AND NOT Too SWEET (SEE. NOTE)
TO SERVE:
0 FRESH FRUIT AND
CREME FRAICHE
DIRECTIONS:
In a saucepan, mix the blackcurrants with 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, leave for a short while, then cover and heat gently, shaking the pan occasionally, until the fruit juices begin to run. Add the red fruits and continue to heat gently until their juices run. Add a little more sugar, if necessary, but do not. forget that the cake is slightly sweet and will sweeten the juices; I sometimes like to keep the fruit unsweetened so that it makes more of a contrast to the cake.
Cut a circle from 1 slice of cake to neatly fit the bottom of a 1.2 litre/2 pint pudding basin. Fit the circle into the basin, then line it with most of the remaining slices, overlapping them slightly and making sure there arc no gaps. Spoon the fruit and most of the juices into the basin, taking care not to dislodge the cake lining; reserve about 3 tablespoons of the juice. Cover with the remaining cake. Cover the top of the basin with greaseproof paper, then with foil and place a saucer or small plate that just fits inside the bowl on top. Place a heavy weight on the saucer or plate. Put in the refrigerator overnight.
To serve, run the point of a sharp knife carefully around the edge of the
pudding, then invert the pudding onto a serving plate. Spoon the reserved juices over the top and place fruit around the bottom. Serve with creme.fmkhe.
Make a Swiss roll sponge in a Swiss roll tin.
