AH, AUTUMN; the leaves are changing colours, the days are closing in and the cafés are offering pumpkin spice-flavour everything.
While no-one can deny the beauty of early autumn, the satisfaction of leaves crunching under your feet and the tang of bonfires being carried through the air, it's always hard to say goodbye to the heat of the summer.
But this transition can be made a little easier with this absolutely scrumptious recipe by Ali Clark for SBS, made with all the fruits which are at their sweetest as the summer draws to a close and the Irish autumn looms.
Image: Alan Benson / Ali Clark/ SBSWhat you'll need:
For the pudding...
- 2 small bramley apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
- 3 plums (around 200g), halves, stoned, roughly chopped
- 300g of frozen blackberries
- 110g dark brown sugar
- 185ml dry red wine
- 80ml créme de cassis or blackcurrant syrup or blackcurrant juice
- 12 slices of white bread with the crusts removed
- Optional: Mint sprigs, cream or créme fraeche to serve
For the berry sauce...
- 300g of frozen blackberries or mixed berries
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 75g of white sugar
How to make it:
Make the sweet berry sauce by simply blending the frozen berries, lemon and sugar in a food processor or blender until smooth. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve, discard the solid remnants, and set aside.
For the rest of the pudding, start by bringing the fruits, sugar and wine to the boil over medium heat before reducing the heat to low and simmering for 15 minutes or until the apples are very soft. Then remove from the heat, stir in the blackcurrant liqueur/juice/syrup and allow to cool.
Take a 1 litre, 18cm bowl and line it with 10 slices of bread, overlapping slices to ensure there are no gaps, then spoon the cooled fruits into the bowl, pressing firmly into the bread.
Once the fruits have filled the bowl, top with two further slices of bread then cover with baking paper and place something heavy on top before leaving to refrigerate overnight.
The next day, your pudding should be firm enough to keep its shape-- turn the bowl upside down and turn out onto a plate. Brush any unsoaked bread with berry sauce, then top with mint sprigs, berry sauce, and fresh cream.
Best enjoyed with a steaming hot cup of tea!
