There are several reasons why the summer pudding will collapse. The bread may not have been dry enough or the syrup not heavy enough; there may have been gaps in the bread lining the basin; or perhaps the pudding was not weighted down properly or thoroughly chilled. The secrets to making a good summer pudding are relatively simple. Use good-quality uncut bread, and buy it two to three days beforehand so that it can dry out. Dry bread will absorb the juice from the fruit better and will swell, rather than just become soggy and disintegrate. Cook the fruit just long enough for it to soften yet remain whole. This will ensure you have a lusciously heavy, syrupy juice. Most importantly, make sure that the pudding is really well-weighted down.

** Asian Recipes **

If serving such strawberries with cream or ice cream, you can develop their flavor by dusting them with sugar and leaving them to stand for about an hour. Slice any large ones first. Sprinkling them with a little kirsch, Cointreau or Grand Marnier will also improve the flavor. If the strawberries are to be put into a flan, or on top of a cake, they can be mixed with some hot, sieved strawberry jam, or glazed. This will compensate for their disappointing tasteless flavor.

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It all depends on the type of fruit and where it came from. Wild blackberries should always be washed, but those sold by supermarkets and greengrocers are cultivated varieties and should not need any washing. Do not wash raspberries, boysenberries or loganberries as this will spoil their juicy texture. Strawberries, too, should not be washed, unless they are particularly dusty. Blackcurrants, gooseberries, redcurrants and whitecurrants should be put into a colander and rinsed under a gentle running tap.

** Asian Recipes **