Recipe - Summer Pudding

This is one of my typical Christmas favourites.  It's a great alternative to hot pudding in our Aussie heat.  Frozen berries work just as well but I always use fresh strawberries.  Any combination of berries is fine

Summer Pudding

Ingredients : 

2 punnets Strawberries
2 punnets Raspberries
2 punnets Blueberries
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup water
10 slices white bread, crusts removed

Method :

Wash & trim berries and put into a saucepan with the water & sugar.
Simmer for about 5 minutes until softening and juices become a little syrupy. Remove from heat.
Line a pudding basin with cling wrap, leaving enough overhanging to cover the top.  Use a pastry brush to "paint" one side of the bread with juice from the berries and place the bread juice side down to line the basin. 

Pour fruit and 1/2 the juice into the lined basin.  Reserve the other half of the juice for serving.
Use more bread to make a 'lid' for the pudding going all the way to the edge.  

Cover the top with overhanging cling wrap.

Place a small plate on top and weight it down (you could use large tins of fruit/soup).
Refrigerate both the pudding and the reserved juice overnight.
To serve, open the clingwrap and upend pudding onto a plate.

Pour the reserved juice over the top. 

Serve with cream.