Asian Summer Pudding

This delicious and exotic dessert is best made a day in advance

  • 1 loaf of thick-slice, soft, white bread
  • 250g strawberries
  • 100ml orange juice
  • 1 largo mango – peeled and stoned
  • 1 papaya – peeled and de-seeded
  • 400g tin of lychees – drain and keep juice aside (if using fresh lychees, use 10-15 skinned and stoned)
  • 1 tsp sugar – but leave out if using tinned lychees
  • Carton of dairy-free cream or ice cream

Method

  1. Use either a pudding bowl or 4 separate ramekins.
  2. Blend the strawberries to a pulp (with the sugar if not using tinned lychees) by mashing, or in a food processor, and mix in the orange juice. Cut up the rest of the fruit into small pieces and set aside.
  3. Remove the crusts and dip slices of the bread into the strawberry/orange mix. Line the pudding basin or ramekins with the dipped bred, overlapping slices to ensure all of the basin sides and bottom are covered. Pour in the chopped fruit mix and cover the top with slices of the strawberry/orange juice bread.
  4. Place a plate on the pudding basin and weigh it down with something heavy (such as a full food tin or proper kitchen weight). Leave overnight in the fridge so that all the flavours mull and the basin shape will hold.
  5. To turn out: take off weight and plate, place the serving dish you wish to display your pudding on over the pudding basin, hold tightly and turn over. Very carefully lift off basin and hopefully, your fruit-soaked bread pudding will ease out and keep its shape.
  6. Slice and serve with the dairy-free cream or ice cream.

Alternative fruit suggestions include kiwi fruit and pomegranates.