This pudding is sooo gorgeous and is a must for these lovely summer days when soft fruits are in abundance...However I would reccommend you use good quality bread as shop bought ordinary sliced bread is not really very suitable to use..the texture is everything...why give yourself a treat and try this receipe..

Angela's summer pudding

Ingredients
• 1.15kg British summer fruits (Angela liked 350g/12oz raspberries, 350g/12oz small strawberries, 300g/10oz blackcurrants, 175g/6oz redcurrants, but this is not definitive - experiment with your own blend and try mixing in loganberries and tayberries)
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 5 tbsp Crème de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) or crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)
• 2-3 day-old small unsliced farmhouse white loaf of bread (you will need about 5 slices)
• double cream , to serve

1. Firstly, get all the fruit ready. Hull the strawberries and cut them in halves or quarters depending on how big they are. Strip the blackcurrants and redcurrants from their stalks in one fell swoop by running a fork down the length of each stem - keep both the currants separate from the other fruits.
2. Tip the sugar into a wide, not too deep, saucepan. Measure in 3 tbsp water and the cassis. Put the pan on a low heat and cook, stirring often, until you can no longer hear the crunch of sugar grains on the bottom of the pan. When the sugar is dissolved, turn up the heat to medium-high and let the mixture bubble away for about 8 minutes. It will go quite syrupy and you want to catch it just before it starts to change colour or caramelise.
3. Now tip the blackcurrants and redcurrants into the hot syrup, it will feel quite sticky at first, then bring everything back up to a lively simmer and let it bubble again for no more than a minute, just to lightly burst and soften the currants without losing their shape. Take the pan off the heat and leave until it is barely warm.
4. Gently stir in the strawberries and raspberries - a large metal spoon is best so they don't break up - and let the fruity mixture sit for about half an hour so the juices all mix in.
5. Cut 4-5 slices from the loaf, about 5mm thick, and trim off the crusts. Cut a little square (about 4cm) from one slice and put it in the bottom of a 1.2 litre pudding basin. Using a big slotted spoon, put a layer of fruit (about 3 spoonfuls) over the bread. Next lay a slice of bread in the centre over the fruit trimming to fit and fill any gaps with trimmings of bread so the fruit is covered. Continue layering with more fruit, more bread, then a final layer of fruit so it comes to within a hair's breadth of the top of the basin. Spoon over a few spoonfuls of juice - not too much or it will ooze out when weighted down. (You should have about 4 spoonfuls of fruit and juice left for making a sauce.) Cover the fruit with a final layer of bread, press down to compact everything, then cover with cling film. Lay a saucer on top and weight down with heavy cans or weights. Stand the basin on a plate in case any juices spill out, then leave in the fridge overnight, or for a minimum of five hours. Press the leftover fruits and juice through a metal sieve to make a sauce, keep chilled. (You can freeze the pudding and the sauce at this stage for up to a month.)
6. To turn out, go round the edge of the pudding with a round-bladed knife to release it, then invert it on to a plate. Cut into slices with a serrated knife and serve with a drizzle of the fruit sauce and cream.

Venison

pan-seared venison with blueberries, shallots and red wine

This is another Jamie Oliver receipe that looks fabulous and is a must try !

ingredients

• 1 small handful of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 5 dried juniper berries
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 x 800g/1¾lb venison loin, trimmed
• 4 shallots, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 glass of robust red wine
• 200g/7oz fresh blueberries
• 2 large knobs of butter

Bash up the thyme and juniper berries in a pestle and mortar with a really good pinch of salt and pepper. If you haven’t got a pestle and mortar, use the end of a rolling pin and a metal bowl. Loosen with 2 good lugs of olive oil. Pat the venison dry with some kitchen paper, and rub the oil mixture all over it. Sear the meat in a hot pan on all sides – roughly 6 minutes for medium rare, 7-8 minutes for medium, and you’d have to be a nutter if you wanted to cook it for any longer than that! Depending on the thickness of the meat and the heat of the pan, it may need a little less or more time to cook – so don’t look at the clock, look at the meat. This is the time when you want to try to be instinctive with your meat. Remove it from the pan when it’s cooked to your liking and allow it to rest on a plate for 4 minutes, covered with tinfoil.

Reduce the heat under the pan and add a good lug of oil. Add the shallots and the garlic and fry gently for around 3 minutes until translucent and tender. Turn up the heat again, add the wine, and let it reduce by half. Add the blueberries and simmer slowly for 4 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat, add the butter, and jiggle and shake the pan around so the sauce goes slightly opaque and shiny. Season to taste.

Slice the venison into 2cm/¾ inch slices and serve with steamed purple sprouting broccoli or some other good greens. Add the meat’s resting juices to the sauce and spoon over the venison. Absolutely fantastic. Serves 4 You can serve this up with Purple sprouting broccoli or cream potatoes, parsnip or celeriac. You must try this at least once!

What shall we have today!

I have found a lovely receipe for a delicious summer dessert it is one of Jamie Olivers and I am going to try this one as I always have an abundance of summer berries in my garden...

summer berries with orange and vanilla mascarpone

ingredients

• a large handful of strawberries, hulled and sliced
• a large handful of raspberries
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 2 oranges
• 1 vanilla pod
• a small tub of mascarpone
• 2 shortbread biscuits

serves 2
Put your strawberries in a bowl. Sprinkle over 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the juice and zest of one of the oranges and half the seeds from the vanilla pod. Mix it all together gently then put it to one side while you get everything else ready.

Mix the mascarpone with the remaining tablespoon of sugar, the juice and zest of the second orange and the remaining seeds from the vanilla pod. Stir it together really well.

Spoon the mascarpone on to each plate. Use the back of a spoon to make a well in the centre and then put the fruit on the top. Drizzle over the juices. Crumble a shortbread biscuit over each plate.