Recipe: Summer pudding

Summer pudding is a magical blend of bread, sugar and berries. Photo / Jason Dorday

A big summer pudding is a wonderful way to enjoy a berry harvest. There is something magical about the way white bread, sugar and berries transform into a delectable creation.

1 Line a bowl with clingfilm. Cut the crusts from fresh white sandwich bread and build up a layer of the bread inside the bowl, pushing the slices onto the clingfilm lining, making sure you overlap and press together the joins.

2 Choose a good selection of berries and stoned cherries. Sprinkle with castor sugar and gently warm in a pot until the sugar is dissolved and the juices start to flow. Cool, then ladle the berries and juice into your bread nest.

3 Halfway up the vessel depth, make another layer of bread across the berries. Continue to add the berry mix until you almost fill the bread-lined bowl.

4 Now layer more bread slices across the top of the filled container and spread a sheet of clingfilm on top.

5 Find a plate that sits inside the rim and sit it on the top of the bowl. Weigh it down with tins from the pantry. Refrigerate overnight.

6 Before serving, allow the summer pudding to come to room temperature. Loosen the pudding by gently pulling on the clingfilm lining or sliding a spatula between the clingfilm and the vessel.

Place a serving plate on top of the bowl and swiftly, holding the plate and the bowl together, turn it upside down. With good faith and luck the pudding will plop onto your serving plate. If it doesn't, it's easy to patch up. Slice wedges from the moulded shape and serve with cream.