Iced summer berry pudding
Courtesy of Bernice Tzong, pastry chef at Café Rouge. Stop by the café this summer to try her berry ice creams and sorbets.
For the glaze:
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons strawberry jam
4 tablespoons crème de cassis (optional)
2 cups fresh strawberries, thinly sliced
Line a 2½–3 quart pudding mold or a glass bowl with plastic wrap. Heat the water with sugar over stove until all the sugar is dissolved. Mix 1 tablespoon of this sugar syrup with
2 tablespoons strawberry jam in a bowl. Brush the mixture over the plastic wrap and then line with sliced strawberries.
Mix remaining sugar syrup with the remaining strawberry jam and all the crème de cassis. Set aside.
For the sponge cake
(can be made in advance):
4 eggs
4½ ounces sugar
4½ ounces cake flour
Preheat oven to 350˚. Line a half-sheet cake pan (11 x 18 inches) with parchment paper. (If you don’t have a half-sheet cake pan, you could try two layer cake pans.)
Whip the eggs with sugar until light and fluffy (about triple in volume). Sift cake flour over the eggs and sugar and then fold it in. Pour into the prepared pan, spreading the batter evenly
in a thin layer.
Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Baking time will vary, based on how thinly the batter is spread.) Let cool to room temperature before removing from the pan.
Cut cake into a circle to match the size of the top opening of your pudding mold. Then slice the rest of the cake into triangles and brush with the strawberry glaze. Line the pudding
mold with overlapped cake pieces and press them against the strawberries.
For the raspberry mousse:
2 cups fresh raspberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 cups whipped cream, chilled
1¼ cup sugar
Mix 1½ cups raspberries, lemon juice, and sugar in a saucepan, stirring over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Cool slightly and purée in food processor along with the rest of the raspberries,
then press through a sieve to remove seeds. Scrape into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature.
Mix 1 cup of chilled whipped cream into raspberry mixture until well combined.
Fold in remaining whipped cream and then pour this raspberry mousse into the pudding mold, filling almost to the top.
Put the cake circle on top of the mousse then put the pudding in the freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight.
About 15 minutes before serving, take the pudding from the freezer, dip the pudding mold in hot water for about 30 seconds then flip it over onto a plate.
Take off the plastic wrap.
Dip a long knife in hot water and cut pudding into wedges.
Serve with fresh berries of your choice.
Serves 6–8.
