We love this low-waste summer fruit pudding recipe. It uses up bread that’s past its best, saving it from the bin, it’s vegan and it’s the perfect summer dessert. Complete with lashings of cream!

Summer Fruit Pudding

Serves 4

Ingredients

1.25kg of mixed berries of your choice
175g golden caster sugar
7 slices of day-old white bread, from square, medium-cut loaf

Method

Bring out the fruit juices by washing and gently drying on the kitchen paper – if using strawberries, keep separate. Mix the sugar and 3tbsp water together into a large pan. Gently heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring a few times. Bring the syrup to the boil, tipping in the fruit except the strawberries if you are using. Cook the fruit on a gentle heat for 3 min, stirring 2-3 times as they heat. Strain the fruit through a sieve into another bowl to separate.

Take a large bowl and begin preparing the bread slices. Cut the crusts off the bread. Cut 4 pieces of bread in half, a little on an angle, to give 2 lopsided rectangles per piece. Cut 2 slices into 4 triangles each and leave the final piece whole.

Start by dipping the whole piece of bread into the juice for a few seconds until coated. Push this into the bottom of the bowl. Follow this by dipping the rectangular pieces into the juice, before pressing them into the bowl’s sides, ensuring that they overlap and press together to seal. Spoon in the softened fruit, adding strawberries now if you have them.

Set the pudding aside for a few moments to soak. Dip the remaining bread triangles into the juice and arrange on top before trimming any overhang and then placing a plate on top. Squeeze it down and leave the pudding to chill in the refrigerator for 6 hrs.

To serve, flip the plate upside down carefully, making sure your area is ready to catch any juices. Spoon the pudding into bowls with a lovely bit of ice cream.