Ingredients
1kg summer fruits (I used
a mix of gooseberries, redcurrants, raspberries, blackberries and
strawberries).
175g caster sugar
8 slices day-old white
bread (medium to thick sliced)
Method
Rinse the fruit and put
into a pan (except for strawberries which need no additional cooking). Add the
caster sugar and 3tbsp of water.
Bring to the boil, cook
for 1 minute, stirring to make sure the sugar dissolves. Then turn off the heat
and leave to cook for a further 4-5 minutes. The juice should now be soft but
intact.
Allow to cool a little and
then pour through a sieve with a bowl underneath to separate the fruit from the
juice. Add the strawberries to the fruit.
Line a basin with cling film, overlapping two sheets.
Allow some overhang.
Cut the crusts off the
bread and then cut 7 of them in half, slightly diagonally. This will make it easier
to fit them in the bowl.
Take one of these pieces,
trim it smaller, dip it in the juice and place it in the middle of the bowl.
Then, after dipping each
in the juice, arrange the others around the edge to make a casing.
Spoon in the fruit.
Fold the edges over the fruit and use the remaining piece of bread (dipped in the juice, too) to fill the gap in the middle.
Cut to fit before dipping.
Now, take the edges of the
cling film and draw each piece in to seal the pudding inside the bowl.
Place a side plate on top
and weigh it down with a can.
Allow this to set for at
least six hours and overnight if possible. 
When ready to serve,
remove weight, plate and open up the cling film. 
Put large plate on top and
invert.
Remove cling film.
Cut open.
Place in bowls and serve with the remaining
juice......and cream if you like.
This is lovely 'comfort food' and is so easy to make.
