A Festive blog: FANNY CRADOCK....and DIVUMPTIOUS SUMMER PUDDING

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’ #19   “…FANNY CRADOCK…and time for SUMMER PUDDING ”

OUR CHRISTMAS FAIRY  "Ample Girth" bursting forth!

As a treat to You, my reader, I shall steer you towards a Cookery Icon…Yes! FANNY CRADOCK…Doyenne of BBC Television cookery shows…in fact the beginnings of BBC cookery TV from mid 1950s onwards !

Friend Rob is an absolute mine of wonderfully off-the-wall information, and……

Fanny Cradock - Doyenne of TV cooking!

and luckily, a few years ago, he introduced me to the luscious, appetizing world of Fanny Cradock on YOUTUBE !

False eyelashes, accentuated lips, exaggerated, penciled eyebrows, and a raspy voice, she took herself very seriously.

Bejeweled fingers, and pink satin balloon sleeves, halfway up a turkey’s you-know-what!

So, do yourself a favour, and go to website: YOUTUBE - search:

1) Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas – Christmas Bird Pt 1  (yes! JUST as I’ve written it! )

2) Fanny Cradock –  Royal mincemeat (Part 2 of 2) 

Yes, I know that it can be quite tiresome sometimes to wait for those movie clips to download…but believe, me, it will bring a chuckle to your face and a smile to your heart !

…I bring you….Mrs FANNY CRADOCK !, OH…and go to Wikipedia,( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fanny_Cradock_Allan_Warren.jpg ) and read up about her 4 marriages , some bigamous, and sohh much more!

And so to recipes…

A  SUPER , REFRESHING ALTERNATIVE for a Christmas … OR other   Festive meal!

"Ample Girth" in Festive mood...

This recipe is quite a large quantity, enough to serve at least 12 people…so I often reduce quantities to make a smaller one – enough to serve 6 people.

I shall firstly give you the larger recipe…….and after…just below,  divulge the smaller quantity that works just as well!

And no-one will ever guess that  this is made from WHITE BREAD!

      SUMMER Pudding :

Summer Pudding - Festive and delicious!

Ingredients :

700g - 750 g mixed (red) berries -FRESH  or frozen (Raspberries, blackberries, red currents, strawberries).

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ cups liquid (being the juice of the berries + water combined)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon ‘Maizena’ (cornflour) for thickening the reserved amount of pureed fruit sauce that you have kept aside)

1 loaf of white sandwich bread

Method :

1) Line a 1 litre (4 standard cups ) pudding bowl with Clingfilm

2) Slice bread and cut crusts off

3) Cut triangle shapes to line the sides of the pudding bowl

4) Cut rounds too, from small for the bottom of the bowl, to larger sizes – or you can cut strips if this is easier. I use cookie cutters for the rounds.

5) Place cut bread into the pudding bowl to check that all fit well…and remove again…just leaving, at first the triangle pieces lining the sides of the bowl.

6) If using frozen berries, DEFROST them first, drain and reserve that juice to use in the preparation

7) In a saucepan, bring the sugar and water (with drained berry juice, to the boil, reduce the heat, and add the berries and lemon juice.

- For fresh berries, simmer for 2 minutes.

- For frozen berries, 1 minute is ample.

8) Take saucepan off the heat, and leave fruit sauce to cool for about 20 minutes

- REMEMBER to put aside 4 tablespoons of the cooked berries to use for garnishing the plate before serving. Put these into a small container and chill overnight in the fridge.

9) Pour the cooked berries and liquid into a liquidizer/blender, and purée well.

10) STRAIN this through a sieve, into a clean bowl.

11) Using a wooden spoon, or rubber spatula, rub the berries through the sieve, leaving only the seeds behind. Remember to scrape the underside too, of the sieve, to collect all the purée

12) Pour some of the strained thick fruit sauce into the bottom of the lined pudding bowl.

13) Then place the first round of bread on top that, and gently press this down to absorb the sauce…..continuing the process, layer-by-layer.

Be sure to see that the side triangles of bread lining the bowl, also absorb enough sauce as you increase the layers inside the bowl.

14) Gently cover the completely full pudding bowl with Clingfilm, gently squeezing as much air out the side of the top as possible.

15 ) Place in the fridge overnight – having put a flat plate on top of this, and weigh it down with something like a  heavy tin of jam, etc, to keep it pressed firmly.

16) There will be leftover cooked, sieved fruit sauce – keep this to make the thickened sauce for serving.  Meanwhile, put into a container in the fridge, overnight.

To Serve:

1) Mix 1 tablespoon of  ‘Maizena’ (cornflour) with 3 tablespoons water/fruit juice.

2) Reserve ¼ cup of the chilled fruit sauce for later.

3) Gently heat the remaining leftover strained fruit sauce in a saucepan, add the cornflour mixture, and stir till it thickens …leave to cool for 30 minutes or more. (If not enough fruit sauce, add ¼ cup water).

4) Remove the weights and the top layer of Clingfilm off the refrigerated Summer Pudding.

5) Tip the pudding bowl upside down onto a serving platter

6) Gently remove the bowl, then the Clingfilm which was lining the bowl.

7) There will be some white patches where the sauce did not reach parts of the bread – pour some of the reserved sauce onto these patches.

8) Pour the thickened fruit sauce over the pudding…or if you prefer, pour it just AROUND the pudding, on the serving platter.

9) Garnish the top of the Summer Pudding with the 4 tablespoons of chilled berries that you DID remember to reserve!

10) Serve with fresh cream or brandied vanilla custard….

*****Now : Quantities for the smaller pudding:

 

Ingredients:… for smaller pudding:

350g mixed (red) berries - FRESH  or  frozen (Raspberries, blackberries, red currents, strawberries)….or just raspberries okay too.

1 cup sugar

1 cup liquid (being the juice of the defrosted berries + water combined)

½ tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons ‘Maizena’ (cornflour) for thickening the reserved amount of pureed fruit sauce that you have kept aside)

¾ loaf of white sandwich bread –you might need less!

* Remember to use a much smaller pudding bowl  - about 500 ml (2 cupsfull )

Summer Pud - cutting the bread to shape

Ingredients for the sauce and puree

In-case you didn't get it!...for puree

The berry puree, strained and ready to add to the bowl

Remember to reserve some puree for sauce later, after filling the pudding

Summer Pudding - before pressing and chilling

Remember to cover tightly with clingwrap before pressing and chilling

VOILA! - mouthwatering SUMMER PUDDING!

If you, Dear Reader, enjoyed this ...then scroll back to my very first blog...Confit D'oie....just go to the top right of this page, and click on older blogs!
....and oh! ...wishes? ........my readership is wonderfully international, so many of you don't celebrate  this , nicknamed  "The Silly Season" - nevertheless, 'Summer Pudding' can be enjoyed anytime, by You!

"Ample Girth" still in  Festive mood

‘COOKINGWITHMAVIS’