Deliciously summery pudding, with a ‘grow your own’ twist…

At a recent dinner party I was asked to bring pudding. Anyone that knows me, know pudding is about the one thing I can’t make. I don’t bake and I don’t do sweet things. I can knock up a spicy chicken casserole in a heartbeat, but mixing sugar and eggs and cream and whipping things….it’s usually beyond me.

Still, we have redcurrants, strawberries and blackberries in our garden, and I am always chasing that elusive domestic goddess dream. Turns out, this recipe was the answer to my prayers. Not entirely without faff, I’ll admit, but mostly pretty straight-forward, especially if you’ve got a good food processor or hand-whisk. This berry fool has a lovely sweet, creamy flavour, deliciously smooth texture (yes, you MUST sieve the fruit after blending), and looks gorgeously summery and fresh. Arrange a few mint leaves on the top with some fresh berries for a pretty look.

Serves 4

• 350g Assorted Berries
• 140g caster sugar
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 150ml double cream
• 85g Mascarpone Cheese
• Mint leaves to decorate

Reserve a few fresh berries for decoration, then puree the remaining berries in a food processor or blender with the sugar, and rub through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. The resulting puree should be quite thick. Add then lemon to taste.

Whisk the double cream until standing in soft peaks. Beat the mascarpone by hand to soften it and then mix gently with the cream. Stir in half the berry puree.

Divide the rest of the puree between glasses or ramekins and then spoon the cream mixture on top of the puree. Decorate with the reserved berries and mint leaves and chill in the fridge for several hours before serving.

Little Tip: I had some frozen berries and some of my own redcurrants which I wanted to use, so I cooked them up slowly with elderflower cordial. This meant I didn’t have to use as much sugar – and went a bit easier on the lemon, which is really only there to counter the sweetness of the sugar. This gave the fool an fresh, rather than sweet, and summery flavour. I served the puddings with mini almond and lemon biscuits, from a fantastic Mary Berry recipe, here, which is so idiot-proof even I can make batches of the things without thinking about it.