summer pudding (serves 4-6)

Cut 6–8 slices of stale pain de mie – about 1½cm thick – and trim
off the crusts. Keep back a couple of slices (for the lid) and use the
rest to line the base and sides of a pudding basin – make sure the
basin is completely covered (trim the bread to shape if necessary so
that it fits closely together).
Remove the stalks and/or stones from 600g mixed soft fruits
(include as many different fruits as you are able to get hold of, from
strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants
and sweet black cherries, but avoid adding too many blackcurrants
as they can overpower the other fruits).
Put the fruit in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan, add 100g caster sugar,
bring to the boil over a low heat and cook for a couple of minutes
until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit has just started to soften
and release its juice. Remove from the heat. Set aside 3 or 4
tablespoons of the juice, then spoon the fruit and the rest of the
juice into the prepared bowl and cover with the remaining slices of
bread. Place a plate, the same size as the rim of the bowl, on top of
the pudding and weight it down (a tin or jar will do). Place the bowl,
with the weight on top, in the fridge and leave to chill for at least 6
hours but preferably overnight.
To serve, remove the weight and the plate and slide a palette knife
round the inside of the bowl to release the pudding. Cover the bowl
with a serving plate and invert the bowl to turn the pudding out onto
the plate. Add 2 tablespoons crème de cassis to the reserved juices
then carefully pour them over the pudding so that all of the bread is
soaked through and coloured.

This takes the basic White Dough on a stage further, adding olive oil
which gives a lovely softness to the dough, making it very resilient,
and resulting in bread with a fantastic texture and flavour, which
also freezes well. There is also a recipe for ciabatta that uses
avocado oil, to make a wonderfully tasty variation.
I like to use a light fruity olive oil, not a peppery intense one – and
I also like to use a little semolina in the dough, to add character to
the bread. The dough will feel slightly wetter than the white dough
we made in the previous chapter, but onc