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Mulberry pudding

This classic pudding is a simply delicious taste of summer.

This is the kind of recipe that reminds us how inventive the cooks of previous generations were in turning leftovers into dinner or dessert, especially bread. We throw away more bread than any other foodstuff and though there are no exact figures for bread wastage in Australian households, the British figures are eye-popping – the Brits throw away 2.6 billion slices of bread a year! With the tiniest effort, some of that day-old bread could have become this delicious summer dessert – juicy, sweet, berry-flavoured lusciousness. Waste not!

 

Photo - Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com

 

What you need:

1.25kg mixed berries, including mulberries and redcurrants

175 g caster sugar

8-10 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed

More berries to serve

Ice cream or cream to serve

If you can’t find redcurrants, add some lemon zest to the cooked berries

 

What to do: 

If the mulberries are large cut them in half. Hull and halve or quarter the strawberries.

Mix the fruit with the sugar then add to a pan with 3 tbspn water, and slowly bring to the boil. Cook slowly for a few minutes, without stirring, so fruit softens but doesn’t go mushy.

Strain the berries, reserve the syrup. Let both cool completely.

Line a pudding bowl with plastic wrap, leaving plenty of overhang. Cut a slice of bread to fit the bottom, brush generously with fruit syrup and put into place. Use the remaining pieces of bread, well brushed or dunked in the syrup, to line the bowl.

When the bowl is lined with soaked bread, tip in the fruit and use the final slices of bread to form a lid. Bring the cling film over and loosely seal. Reserve any leftover syrup.

Place a plate on top of the pudding, and top that with a can to weigh down the pudding.

Chill for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Turn out, remove plastic wrap. Drizzle with the remaining syrup and serve with mixed berries, ice cream or whipped cream.

  

 
Text: Robin Powell