Individual Summer Berry Puddings

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Place bread in single layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry but not brittle, about 1 hour, flipping slices once and rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and sugar in large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to release their juices and sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in lemon juice; cool to room temperature.
3. Spray six 6-ounce ramekins with vegetable oil spray and place on rimmed baking sheet. Use cookie cutter to cut out 12 bread rounds that are slightly smaller in diameter than ramekins.
4. Using slotted spoon, place 1⁄4 cup fruit mixture in each ramekin. Lightly soak 1 bread round in fruit juice in saucepan and place on top of fruit in ramekin; repeat with 5 more bread rounds and remaining ramekins. Divide remaining fruit among ramekins, about 1⁄2 cup per ramekin. Lightly soak 1 bread round in juice and place on top of fruit in ramekin (it should sit above lip of ramekin); repeat with remaining 5 bread rounds and remaining ramekins. Pour remaining fruit juice over bread and cover ramekins loosely with plastic wrap. Place second baking sheet on top of ramekins and weight it with heavy cans. Refrigerate puddings for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
5. Remove cans and baking sheet and uncover puddings. Loosen puddings by running paring knife around edge of each ramekin, unmold into individual bowls, and serve immediately.

For this recipe, you will need six 6-ounce ramekins and a round cookie cutter of a slightly smaller diameter than the ramekins. If you don’t have the right size cutter, use a paring knife and the bottom of a ramekin (most ramekins taper toward the bottom) as a guide for trimming the rounds. If using challah, slice it about 1⁄2 inch thick. Summer berry pudding can be made up to 24 hours before serving; held any longer, the berries begin to lose their freshness. WHIPPED CREAM is the perfect accompaniment.

LARGE SUMMER BERRY PUDDING

SERVES 6 TO 8

Trim crusts from toasted bread and trim slices to fit in single layer in loaf pan (you will need about 2-1⁄2 slices per layer; there will be three layers). Spray 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil spray, line with plastic wrap, and place on rimmed baking sheet. Using slotted spoon, spread about 2 cups fruit mixture evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Lightly soak enough bread slices for 1 layer in fruit juice in saucepan and place on top of fruit. Repeat with 2 more layers of fruit and bread. Pour remaining fruit juice over bread and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Place second baking sheet on top of loaf pan and weight it with heavy cans. Refrigerate pudding as directed. When ready to serve, invert pudding onto serving platter, remove loaf pan and plastic, slice, and serve.

ASSEMBLING INDIVIDUAL SUMMER BERRY PUDDINGS
You will need a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan for this recipe. Because there is no need to cut out rounds for this version, you will need only about 8 slices of bread, depending on their size.

1. Cut out rounds of bread with biscuit cutter.
2. With slotted spoon, place 1⁄4 cup fruit mixture into bottoms of greased 6-ounce ramekins that have been placed on baking sheet.
3. Lightly soak 1 round of bread in fruit juice in saucepan and place on top of fruit in each ramekin.
4. Divide remaining fruit among ramekins (about 1⁄2 cup more per ramekin).
5. Lightly soak 1 round of bread and place on top of fruit in each ramekin; it should sit above lip of ramekin. Pour remaining fruit juice over bread and cover ramekins loosely with plastic wrap.
6. Place second baking sheet on top of ramekins, then weight with several heavy cans.

ASSEMBLING A LARGE SUMMER BERRY PUDDING
1. Remove crusts from bread slices and trim slices to fit in single layer in loaf pan (you will need 3 layers). Remove bread from pan.
2. Line greased loaf pan with plastic wrap. Spread about 2 cups fruit mixture over bottom. Lightly soak 1 layer of bread slices in fruit juices and place on top of fruit. Repeat 2 more times.
3. Top with remaining fruit juice, cover loosely with second sheet of plastic, and weight with another loaf pan and 2 or 3 heavy cans.