top tips for summer pudding please

[lilolilmanchester]

I cook loads but this is something I have never made. Got reliable recipes, just wondered if any experienced summer pudding makers had any top tips/dos/don'ts as I might make one for friends at the weekend.
Thanks.

Be careful with the juice when you turn it out and DON'T wear a white top to eat it!

Thanks Cies!

don't use bread that's too fresh. otherwise you'll need a lot more juice than you think

DO NOT let your friends eat it before you scoop out a huge amount for yourself. It. Will. Not. Last.

DO NOT let any children sit on your lap while you eat it. You will end up with NONE.

Make twice as much as you think you will need.

Do not cook anything else to eat.

Frozen fruit works just as well as fresh if you're struggling to find a good selection of fresh. Just add sugar and cook in a pan.

Use nice thickly cut white bread, let it go a bit stale. cook fruit in a pan with a little sugar to taste (depends how sweet you like it) don't let the fruit turn to mush. Line a pudding bowl with the bread, a couple of slices on top of each other if it's not that thick (crusts off by the way), pour fruit mix in to the bowl. Top off with a couple more slices of bread (you're trying to create a seal of bread all the way around to try and get the top slices to meet up properly with the other slices). Cover with cling film and place a small plate on top with a couple of tins on top so it weighs down the pudding iyswim (make sure the plate is small enough to cover just the top of the pudding), refridgerate over night, be very careful when turning out the next day

Serve with clotted cream.. yummy

fantastic, thanks everyone. Will make two!

Waitrose do quite a reasonably priced big punnet of frozen fruit= blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants - I was using some last weekend and thought "this would go really well in a summer pud and be much cheaper than buying fresh and just as nice"...