Summer Pudding

To make the milk loaves, first put the flour and milk for the Tangzhong (see cook’s notes below) in a saucepan along with 120ml (½ cup) of water and whisk together. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture has thickened to the texture of crème pâtissière or a thick custard. Leave it to cool to room temperature.

For the dough, dissolve the yeast in the milk and add the whole eggs and condensed milk. Put all the dry ingredients in a mixer and add the cooled tangzhong (see above). Mix at medium speed for 10–15 minutes until it comes together to form a cohesive dough. Leave to rest in the bowl for 5 minutes.

Turn the mixer back on and add the butter one third at a time. Mix for a further 10 minutes until you have a beautifully glossy dough. Transfer to a lightly oiled container, cover with a clean tea towel and leave for 2–3 hours until it’s doubled in volume.

Divide the dough in two and shape into loaves by tightly rolling into a log. Place into oiled loaf tins and cover with a damp cloth. Leave somewhere warm to prove until doubled in volume again.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Beat the egg yolk and dilute with a little water then brush on to the risen loaves to glaze them. Bake for 35–40 minutes. Turn out of the tins and leave to cool. You will need one loaf for the rest of this recipe. This bread freezes extremely well but it’s also irresistible when warm and freshly baked so it won’t always make it to the freezer.

To make the puddings, combine everything for the master syrup in a saucepan large enough to hold the syrup and the fruit. Bring the syrup to a simmer to dissolve the sugar. It should taste too sweet at this point as the mixture is hot and you are about to add a lot of acidic fruit. If it needs a little more sugar, whisk it into the hot liquid until it’s dissolved. Once the syrup is tasting just right, turn down the heat as low as you can and add the fruit. Give the mix a good stir and leave for 10–15 minutes on a very low heat for the fruits to get to know each other. Taste the mix again to check the sweetness level and then leave it to cool to body temperature before starting to build your pudding. At this point you can chill and then freeze your summer
pudding mix if you don’t want to use it all at once. Be sure to divide the mixture evenly so that you have equal amounts of fruit and syrup for each portion.

To construct the puddings, lightly oil two 1-litre pudding basins or bowls. Slice the milk loaf into 5mm slices and remove the crusts. I prefer a thinner shell of bread in my pudding to maximize the amount of fruit with each mouthful. Dip the slices of bread into the warm juices in the saucepan to soak and then build a single layer of sodden slices inside the bowl. Start with a slice at the bottom of the bowl and then build up the sides, leaving no gaps from which the filling could spill. You can tear the bread apart or smoosh it together as needed to create your patchwork. Fill the pudding with the fruit and juices, reserving a little to serve with the pudding the next day. It is very important to add more of the juices than you think is sensible as nobody wants a dry pudding.

Once the pudding is full to the brim with fruit and juice, top with a final layer of soaked bread so that the fruit is sealed within. Place the filled pudding basins into a shallow dish to catch any excess juices. Top each one with a small plate or saucer weighted down with a couple of cans or jars. Place in the fridge and leave overnight to press and carry on soaking. Don’t try to speed up this stage or you’ll end up with an unpleasantly anaemic-looking pudding.

The next day, turn the pudding out onto a plate and marvel at how all the odds and ends of summer have resulted in something so glorious. Serve the pudding with an extra spoon of any leftover fruit and a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream or pour an extremely generous glug of double (heavy) cream over the top. The cold creaminess of either will be a perfect foil to the punchy fruitiness of the pudding.