Rib stickers! - Awesome Autumn Pud

Here's a seasonal change to an old favourite – the Summer Pudding. We are ringing the changes and using mixed autumn fruits. I'm using the same principles as with the summer pudding, substituting the traditional bread with Madeira cake.

Autumn Pudding

400g of mixed autumn fruits – cox's apples, peeled and sliced

blackberries and plums – stoned and quartered

1 tbsp soft brown sugaar

3 tbsp water

1 x 370g jar of conserve – any variety or combination

that suits your fruit – damson, plum or berries

Madeira cake – I use a cheap and cheerful shop bought cake (265g - approx) – sliced lengthways into quarter inch slices and neatened. Here's where it's difficult to predict whether you'd need one cake or two – cake size varies depending which supermarket you use. I'd err on the side of caution and opt for two. For the size of basin stated, it takes approximately 10 slices of cake.

1 litre (1&3/4pt) basin.

A plain sided cutter slightly larger than the base of the basin.

Cling film

Method

Stew the fruit gently with the sugar and water in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes until the fruit releases its juices. Cool.

Line the basin with cling film ensuring that it overlaps the basin.

Cut out a circle of cake for the base and place it in the basin. Line the rest of the basin – I overlap each piece of cake – but it's whatever you'd prefer.

Add half the jar of conserve to the cooled fruit and then pour the mixture into the cake-lined bowl. Top with slices of cake to cover completely. Fold the cling film over the pudding to seal.

Place a slightly smaller plate or saucer on top of the basin and weigh down with a can. Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

To serve, remove the can and plate, unseal the cling film, cover the bowl with a large plate. Invert the pudding onto the plate and remove the cling film.

With the remaining conserve warm it through, gently in a microwave. Pour over the top of the pudding to serve, adding cream, ice cream or custard. For a grown-up version you could add a shot of liqueur.

The feedback from the “Sumptuous Summer Pudding” was really complimentary - “We all loved it, adults and children all had a slice, there were no leftovers – very easy to make” which is why I think this pud qualifies for an autumn tweak!