Summer Pudding With Blackberries and Peaches Recipe (2024)

What is the problem? Sounds like a riff on summer pudding with the addition of a creamy layer. So what if it's not your traditional version? Try it and then tell us how you liked it. Open your minds!

Can slices of Pound cake be replaced with the bread?

I love this idea of updating an old tried and true recipe! Evolving and changing is how we survive and how we create. I don't know why people get upset that it's not traditional. It SAYS in the intro that it's an "update", just adding a couple of twists.....calm down people! It's ok. It's berries and sugar and peaches and cream and bread, and I think we can agree that we all love these things and that if you prefer your own recipe, you should use that one.

Whether it's this version, or the traditional English version, it will unmold more easily if made in a British "pudding basin", which is basically a deep bowl. It also looks very pretty that way, a bit like one of those dome shaped mountains in China.

We call lasagna with too much salt and without the right cheese "lasagna." If my people can sit still for rainbow bagels, yours can manage the hideous ignominy of summer pudding that does not include gooseberries.

So easy - came together much quicker than described but don’t try to make it a cake. Get a trifle bowl and slop it in. I got a beautiful handmade one and could have doubled the recipe. Omit the sugar from the whipped cream and add some good vanilla. Marscapone is sweet enough. Cut the sugar back to 1/4 if your fruit is good. Brioche is divine but tear into tiny pieces. Add some booze if you are feeling it. Couldn’t wait for it to cool - it’s amazing.

I think Sana intended to ask if pound cake could be used in lieu of bread. Nope. pound cake doesn't have the same texture as bread. It turns to mush when wet. The not-so-sweet flavor and the texture of the bread are what makes this work. The denser the bread, the longer it must sit. It has to be soaked throughout, or it's fairly terrible.

How would you get the plastic wrap out from under when you lift it out of the pan?

This is no summer pudding that I know. My "antique" recipe calls for firm farmhouse white bread (crusts removed) and a very large bowl of macerated juicy berries (uncooked). The bread is layered with the berries in a springform pan and refrigerated overnight under a plate with a weight (an unopened 28 oz. can of tomatoes works well). The next day, remove the outside of the springform pan, and serve slices with sweetened whipped cream. (If I want to be fancy, I use homemade Japanese milk bread.)

I’m with Mag. Bread soaked in fruit = summer pudding no matter how you dress it up. I’m going to use strawberries and peaches, and enjoy every bite.

I made this and it is excellent. Better than grandma’s. Traditional or not it’s cool, beautiful and tasty, just the thing for over purchases of berries, and peaches. I will try later with passion fruit and mangoes, a version I learned in Australia.

I just love no-bake desserts. I used a loaf of Sara Lee Texas Toast and nectarines that were $.99 a pound, with wild blackberries that grow around the parking lot of my son's work. It's chilling now. I cannot wait until after dinner!

Trad summer pudding is bread-fruit-bread, maybe with interstitial layers but always ending with bread, and it is flipped, onto the base provided by the last layer of bread. The layering in this recipe ends with fruit, and Step 9 raises questions about the unmolding that it does not answer: how can you successfully flip it if the last layer added was fruit? If you don't flip it, how do you remove the plastic wrap?

This pudding was fabulous and summery. We made it with challah instead of brioche and it worked great!

I have red currants, black currant and gooseberry bushes in my yard. in Vermont. keep looking.

This was a hit at a summer pool party and used the best of summer fruits. I was apprehensive and unsure if the pudding would remain intact after unfolding but it did and I was able to slide off the plastic wrap and on to a cake pan. I don't like all the seeds in Blackberrys so I pureed and ran through a fine mesh strainer. Worked out great. Was a little short on peach juice but overcame with the blackberry puree.

Made this for a family gathering, layered into a trifle dish. Ingredients were costly because I had none on hand. The combination of peaches and blackberries was tasty. Used full fat Greek yogurt and heavy cream. No brioche, used challah bread instead but found it too difficult to remove the crust, so left it on and tore bread into small pieces. Wish I had removed the crust or used softer bread. The crusted challah made for too much chewy texture in the finished product.

Made this tonight. Hate to mess up the presentation to eat it. Someone mentioned using a trifle bowl, and that definitely made it easier I think. Used some of Colorado’s own Palisade peaches. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’d like to savor this moment. Wish I could put a photo in.

how on earth do you remove the plastic wrap from underneath the pudding??am i reading this right: "Line a 9-inch springform cake pan with plastic wrap so that there is ample overhang." That seems to indicate the plastic wrap is on the bottom. Then, "Remove springform sides and plastic wrap. (If using a regular cake pan, lift the pudding out by the excess plastic and transfer the entire pudding to a plate, platter or cake stand, removing plastic wrap.)"

Does anyone know of an egg-free bread that would work with this recipe? Brioche has eggs in it.

This was great dish! I will agree with some of the other comments that the fruit didn't produce enough juice to soak into the bottom and top layers, while the middle was soaked through.

Can I leave the crust on the bread?

Fantastic...decadent but also light. I used Japanese milk bread (shokupan) and slided 1/2" thick based on comments. Perfect thickness for getting saturated with juice while still maintaining structure. I also used frozen raspberries which broke apart during simmering but still worked just fine.

This was really good: I will say, with an inch thick or brioche for layers, the juices didn’t really permeate through the payer completely. The middle layer was moist but top and bottom not so much.

The syrups came out to exactly one cup each, which made dividing into thirds easy. I used an 8” springform pan and it was a tight squeeze. Next time I’ll either get a 9” or cut the brioche a little thinner (I’ll keep the fruit and syrup quantities the same). I was very glad I added the ginger, it adds nice complexity and cuts the sweetness.

This was one the best desserts I have ever made. I used nectarines, blackberries, brioche and mascarpone. It was not too sweet with a nice tang. The only problems (and I followed the recipe exactly) I had were that my fruits did not produce enough juice, and the layers went up over the top of my 9” springform pan. Maybe the bread needs to be cut thinner than 1” thick slices?

What if I am anti-plastic wrap? Could foil (which I can wash and then recycle) work?

Definitely not summer pudding! I was taught (by English friends) to line a pudding basin with white bread, bottom and sides, cut to fit snuggly. Cook the berries (must have currants, hopefully gooseberries) raspberries, blackberries, etc., until juicy. No sugar. Fill the basin with the berries (no layers) to the top. Add a layer of bread, cut to fit. Cover with plastic wrap, then a plate, then a heavy can. Refrigerate over night. Serve in large spoonfuls with (I wish!) English double cream! Yum!

I followed the recipe as written with brioche and mascarpone. I added a little rum to the juice on a whim. It was fabulous. I was worried that I would have a ton of leftovers because the group I made it for was small, but everyone loved it so much it was just right. Re flipping- I'm trying to avoid plastic so I used baking paper and it was perfect. I peeled off the top before flipping and then removed the rest.

This sounds like fun!Does this need to be refrigerated right until serving? I mean, can it travel in the subway for an hour and not fall apart?