Chilled Summer Pudding with its deep red syrupy juices is the height of English summer time. And that is the key to this delicious treat - or in fact any cooking. Use what is in season! Good plump strawberries and succulent blackberries. Whilst there is a good range of frozen mixed berries available in supermarkets (ideal for making Summer Pudding in winter!), venture down to your nearest farmer’s market for the fresh alternative. Fruit and vegetables start dying as soon as they are picked. Local markets mean less transportation - and you have to wonder how produce flown half way around the world is kept looking so "healthy" so long after being picked.

Anyway, I digress.... The other trick with Summer Pudding is to use home made bread. Factory made loaves just don’t pass muster with puddings such as this or bread and butter pudding, as they just turn into a sloppy mess. Home baking is very simple and there is no need for fancy machines! I’ve included a recipe for a Classic White Loaf to help you get started.

Summer Pudding

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb / 675g Mixed summer fruit
6 oz / 150g Sugar
4 tablespoons Water
6 thin slices of white bread

1. Add the fruit, water and sugar to a heavy based pan and simmer until the fruit are just soft. Then let cool until they are lukewarm.
2. Trim the crusts from the bread and arrange the slices around the sides and bottom of a pudding bowl so that they overlap. Reserve one slice for the top.
3. Pour the fruit into the bread-lined bowl and then cover with the remaining slice of bread.
4. Place a small plate over the top of the bowl and then weight it down with a can of food. Place the bowl in the fridge for 24 hours.
5. Remove the pudding from the fridge and turn onto a deep plate. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before removing the bowl, as this will allow the juices to distribute.
6. Serve with cream, or a summer berry syrup (as below).

If you have any left over fruit, turn them into a beautiful syrup to serve with your pudding. Add the fruit to a pan with 1/4 pint / 150 ml of water. Simmer until the fruit is soft and then pass the lot through a seive. Place the juice back in the pan, sweeten to taste and simmer until reduced to a slightly syrupy liquid.

Classic White Loaf

Ingedients:

600 g String White Bread Flour
15 g Fresh Yeast (or 1 sachet of yeast powder)
1 tablespoon Salt
1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter (softened)
Loaf tin (buttered and floured)

1. Pre-heat your oven to 220°C / 425°F / gas Mark 7.
2. Place the flour, yeast and salt in a bowl and add half the water. Mix well - wooden spoons or hands work fine, although I tend to use a hand held electric mixer (with dough attachements).
3. Add the butter and mix in.
4. Add more water as required. You want to end up with an elastic dough. It should be sicky, but not so wet as to glue to your hands!
5. Flour the work surface and your hands and turn out the dough onto the work top.
6. Now the hard work! Knead the dough for a good 10-15 mins. It should transform from a sticky mess to a smooth ball.
7. Place the dough ball into a large oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Place in a warm place (airing cupboard is ideal) for about an hour.
8. The dough should have risen to about twice the size. Turn it out onto a floured surface and give it a knead for a minute or so.
9. Place the dough into the loaf tin and leave to continue rising for about 10-15 minutes.
10. Place the loaf in the oven for 35 minutes.