Summer Pudding - what did I do wrong?

[hobbgoblin]

Using Delia's recipe but the thing didn't turn out well, and when it did it was, essentially, a pile of part soggy, part dried bread with bits of fruit in the middle. There was plenty of juice, or so I thought and I rammed it full.

Try lining the basin with the bread first, soaking it in juice, leaving for an hour, then soaking it again. Once you have crammed it tight make sure you weight it down well. My GM used to weight it, leaving the base off, and put it in the fridge at least the night before, the next morning she would cram even more fruit in, soak the base in more left over juice, and put it back in the fridge for a further day.

It means you can't really throw it together, but she always had a nice firm pudding!

Did you tip the extra juice over the top before serving as she advises. (I have got out my Delia now as well. I'm not sad....I'm not. Not. Not really)

Thank you. Going by what you have posted the likely problems were possibly not weighting it sufficiently and perhaps there really wasn't enough juice to really soak in. I will try doing a first and second soaking as you describe.

I must admit to varying the fruit a little too - I had raspberries, blueberries and some strawberries. The combo is fine to taste and I had excess fruit mixture left over so I know I had enough to add to the bread but just maybe these fruits didn't yield juice quite as well...

I ended up pouring my reserved juice over the soggy pile of bread and eating the bits that had soaked up the most. Tbh, it was little more exciting than a jam sandwich so am a bit sad!

Cooking is all about experimentation, and what works best for you.

Try using tinned fruit, and not cooking it (cheating or what?!). Drain off the juice and use that to soak your bread. You will probably need to bolster it with extra fruit though.

Make sure the plate you use is smaller than the opening of the bowl, as you need to be able to compress the pudding down. And make sure you weight that sucker. Sit on it all night if you have to!

Don't be , use this to make a decision that you will never let a pudding get the better of you!!

{Militant face} GRRRRR!

I make a lot of puddings, and need to get out more, obviously....

Lol. Thanks for taking the time to point me in the right direction.

I was quite disappointed that it failed, but you are right about the learning experience and to be honest I tried it because I was bored of making and baking the same old staples when it comes to puds.

Did you use slightly-stale bread (gives better results)? And leave it for long enough? (and, yes, you need to weight it really well, which can cause practical fridge issues).

Definately try a steamed pudding, treacle is best. Find a microwave recipe and it becomes so easy.

Meringues are also fairly easy once you master them.

I talk a good talk, but we have some "intersting" ahem experiences!