Red Fruit Pudding

Author:  Mrs Milena Gatti from Bernate Ticino,   Milan. 

Ingredients - quantity for 6 people

500 g mixed red fruits (strawberries, raspberries, red currants, blueberries and blackberries, even frozen)
2 dl double cream, whipped	1 vanilla stick, with a cut lengthwise
2 egg whites	a pinch of salt
150 g sugar	icing sugar
20 g gelatin sheets, softened in cold water and wrung

Preparation

Put 120 g sugar, 2 spoons of water and the vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl. Pour in the filtered hot syrup and carry on whisking for 5 or 6 minutes until cold.

Wash the fruits, reserve a few pieces for decoration, and purée them in a food processor with 30 g sugar. Pour them in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the gelatin, mix and leave to cool.

Pour 1/3 of the red-fruit purée on the bottom of a lined tin and put it in the freezer until set.

Mix the meringue with the rest of the red-fruit purée, add the cream and mix carefully. Pour the mixture in the tin over the firm puréed fruit.

Put the pudding in the fridge for at least 4-5 hours.

Then check that the pudding is firm, turn it out on a serving plate, open the sides of the tin and remove it carefully, together with the lining.

Garnish the top of the pudding with some red fruits and sprinkle with icing sugar.