Summer pudding

Method

1. Mix the fruit with the sugar in a saucepan, cover with a tea towel or cling film and leave for a few hours until the juices start running. 

2. Place the pan over the heat and bring gently up to the boil, stirring occasionally to help the sugar dissolve completely, then simmer for about 3 minutes.

3. Draw off the heat and stir in the cassis. Carefully spoon out about 2 tablespoons of juice and set aside in a small bowl.

4. Rinse a 1litre bowl out with cold water, and then shake out the excess. Cut a round out of one piece of bread to fit the bottom of the bowl, and then cut the remaining slices into triangular wedges.

5. Line the sides of the bowl with wedges of bread, nudging them together tightly so that there are no gaps at all. Spoon in all the fruit and their juices (apart from the reserved juice). Cover the surface with more wedges of bread.

6. Find a saucer that fits neatly inside the bowl, to cover the upper layer of bread, and then weigh it down with weights, a small bag of rice, tins of baked beans, or whatever comes to hand. Leave in the fridge overnight.

7. Remove weights and the saucer, run a thin blade around the edges, then invert onto a shallow serving plate. Brush reserved juices over any blotchy, whitish patches, and then pour the last few drops over the pudding to give it a sheen. Serve with cream.