Summer Pudding

by Laura Donnelly — June 13, 2007

This is a great old-fashioned dessert you don't see very often anymore. It couldn't be simpler for a summer supper. You can be naughty and serve it with whipped cream!

Serves 4-6

1 and 1/2 pounds strawberries (you can make it 1/2 strawberries-1/2 blueberries too)
Grated peel of one lemon
1/4 cup sugar
5 or more slices white bread, crusts removed (try Arnold or brioche or challah)

1. Manicure the berries; cut in half; combine with lemon peel and sugar. Simmer in nonreactive sauce pan for about ten minutes.

2. Cut bread into three strips and line the bottom and sides of a four-cup soufflé dish. You can patch bare spots with extra bread.

3. Strain fruit pulp, reserving the juice. Pour several Tablespoons of juice over bottom slices of bread and let it soak in a few minutes.

4. Fill soufflé dish almost to the top with fruit pulp, then pour in enough juice to moisten. Cover top with a layer of bread and dampen again with juice. Put a small plate that just fits inside the dish on top and wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap. Set on a plate in refrigerator with a weight on top. Leave for 24 hours.

5. To serve, run a knife around the edges and invert onto serving platter, being careful not to spill the accumulated juices. If juice hasn't stained the bread all the way through, you can do so with reserved juice.