500gstale breadsuch as brioche, challah, shokupan, or other enriched bread
Instructions
Prepare the bowl:
You will need a deep glass bowl, about 1 litre capacity (4-5 cups capacity). Lightly grease the bowl with some non-stick cooking spray. Line the bowl with two long pieces of cling wrap crossed in the center and let the excess hang over the sides
You won't need all the bread, but it's good to have some extra in case you need them
Trim off the crust from the bread. Make sure the bread is about 1/3-1/2 inch in thickness. Thin slices of bread will not hold the filling well and the pudding will fall apart
Line the bottom of the bowl with a whole piece of bread. Then cut some odd shape pieces to fill in any gaps.
Arrange a few slices of bread to cover the sides of the bowl, cut into size if it's too big.
Cut some slices of bread into odd shapes to fill in any gaps. Make sure the bottom and the sides of the bowl are all covered with bread.
Prepare the berries:
Rinse all the berries clean with water and remove excess water. Hull the strawberries. Cut large berries in halves
Put the berries, water,salt, sugar, and orange zest in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir frequently. Cook over medium-lowe heat until they are barely tender and some still somewhat retain their shapes, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly
Assembling:
Scoop some of the berry juice from cooking the berries earlier into bottom of the bowl.
Spoon some of the berry juice over the edges of the bread. It is important that you try to get into the edge of the bowl too. It can be messy but make sure you cover the edge too so they will be soaked in juice as well
Fill up with the berries, leaving the juice out
Cover the top with more bread slices. Cut some odd shapes to fill up any gaps.
Spoon the rest of the juice over the top of the bread and the sides to make sure every piece of bread is soaked in the juice
Pull the overhanged cling wrap over the bread to tightly cover it
Set a large plate on top of the bread and then put something heavy on top, such as big tub of yogurt or cottage cheese, to weigh it down to create more pressure so things will pack down nicely. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 2 days
Unmolding:
Remove the weight you placed on top of the plate. Remove the plate too. Gently peel the cling wrap away from the bread.
Place a large serving plate on top of the pudding.
Then quickly invert the pudding onto the plate. Some juice may leak out and a bit messy, it's okay! It is expected
Gently remove the plastic wrap from the pudding. Use an absorbent paper towel to wipe off any drips on the plate. You can keep this unmolded pudding in the fridge for up to 1 hour before you serve. Any longer, the pudding may not hold its shape and may fall apart
To serve:
Use a serrated knife to cut into wedges. Some slice may crumble a bit, it's totally fine. Top with some more berries and/or with some whipped cream or scoop of ice cream.