Black Forest summer pudding recipe | Sainsbury`s Magazine (2024)

The quintessential British dessert, summer pudding is traditionally made with a mix of both red and black berries, but using only black fruit gives a beautifully dramatic colour

Sarah Akhurst

Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill

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Ingredients

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Step by step

1. Put all of the fruit in a large pan and add the sugar. Cook over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally, for around 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 5 minutes or until the fruit is starting to soften but is keeping its shape. Remove from the heat and tip the fruit into a sieve over a bowl to catch the juices. Leave to cool.
2. Brush a 2 litre bowl (about 18-20cm top diameter) lightly with oil and line with clingfilm, leaving the film over-hanging the edges so you can fold it over the assembled pudding. Stir 3 tablespoons of the cherry brandy through the fruit juices. Cut a circle out of one of the bread slices, big enough to line the base of the bowl. Dip into the juice and then position in the base of the bowl. Cut the rest of the slices into triangles and dip each one in the juice before positioning up the sides of the bowl, slightly overlapping them for full coverage. Use smaller bits of bread to fill any gaps.
3. Reserve a generous spoonful of the fruit mixture to serve, then spoon the rest into the soaked bread-lined bowl and then use the remaining bread to cover the top, dipping as you go. Pour any remaining juices over the pudding and allow to soak in. Fold the clingfilm over the top of the pudding, then put a small plate (it should just rest on top of the bread base) on the top of this. Place a heavy weight (such as a food tin) on top and leave in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours, or ideally overnight.
4. To serve, remove the weight and plate and unwrap the clingfilm. Place a serving plate or lipped cake stand over the top and invert the pudding to unmould. Spoon the reserved fruit on top and drizzle over the extra 2 tablespoons of cherry brandy. Gently press edible gold leaf on top of the pudding, or dust with gold glitter spray, if using. Serve with double cream or crème fraîche.

   *Serve with a dairy-free alternative, and check your bread doesn’t contain milk, if vegan.

   Waste not

   Whiz discarded crusts into crumbs then fry in olive oil with crushed garlic until crisp. Add lemon zest, chilli flakes, or herbs and scatter over pasta.