AGONY CHEF: for those with a penchant for a traditional dessert, think summer berries, bread and clotted cream

Florence Hanson, Appleby

A dessert with lashings of cream - who doesn’t like that! I’m a sucker for a traditional dessert, so think summer berries, bread and clotted cream - a lovely summer pudding. Place 150g defrosted mixed berries into a bowl and add half punnet blackberries, half punnet blueberries, 1 punnet raspberries and 1 punnet trimmed and quartered strawberries. Add 25g caster sugar and 10 roughly chopped basil leaves. Mix and leave to one side. Place the remaining half punnets of fruit into a food processor with another 25g caster sugar and blend till smooth. Remove the crusts from 14 slices of thin white bread. Using a ring cutter, cut out 4 circles to fit into the bottom of a ramekin. Cut four more circles for the tops. With the remaining slices, cut out slices to line the inner edge of the ramekin. Lightly brush the ramekin with oil ,then line with cling film. Dip the bread circles into the fruit puree, then place into the bottom of the ramekin, dipped side down. Repeat with the bread slices to cover the sides, overlapping slightly. Fill the centres with the reserved basil infused fruits, drizzle with a little more fruit puree, then cover with the last four bread circles, again, well dipped into the fruit puree. Cling film and lightly press for a couple of hours. Turn the pudding out on to a plate, serve with any remaining fruit puree, a few fresh strawberries and either a big dollop of clotted cream of lashings of fresh pouring cream.