Ina Garten Calls Her Peach and Berry Summer Pudding a ‘Showstopping Dessert’

Ina Garten has many beautiful and delicious desserts, but she calls her unique peach and berry summer pudding “a showstopping dessert.” Find out how the Barefoot Contessa star makes this easy recipe that comes together quickly then chills in the refrigerator.

The ‘Barefoot Contessa’ star said this is a ‘classic English dessert’

Garten demonstrated how to make the peach and berry summer pudding on an episode of Barefoot Contessa. “I’m going to share the secrets of a showstopping dessert, where the main ingredient is bread. Isn’t that unlikely?” she said.

“It’s peach and berry summer pudding,” she continued. “It’s a classic English dessert and it’s delicious,” Garten explained about the interesting layered fruit and bread creation.

The Barefoot Contessa star shared her thoughts about the origin of summer pudding. “I’m sure it was originally started because it uses up leftover bread and fruit, but it’s so good you can make it with fresh bread and fresh fruit,” she explained.

Ina Garten’s easy summer pudding is fresh and fruity

Garten shared how easy it is to make the dessert, though it does require some time to chill in the refrigerator. “Summer pudding is basically layers of bread and usually berries, but I kind of want to ramp up the flavor,” she explained. She used brioche bread but said challah is also a good option. “It’s an egg bread, it’s kind of rich,” Garten noted, sharing how she cut the crusts off and cut the bread into slices.

To make the fruit sauce, Garten put hulled and sliced strawberries in a pan with sugar and water and cooked them over medium-low heat for five minutes. Then she added raspberries and blueberries, as well as diced peeled peaches, and allowing everything to simmer for another minute, before turning off the heat. Garten stirred in more raspberries and framboise raspberry liqueur.

She started by pouring a spoonful of the fruit and juice mixture into the bottom of a serving dish, placed a layer of bread on top of it, and repeated the process until she reached the top of the dish, ending with a final layer of fruit. “You can do this in any kind of a dish,” Garten said. “Just remember that the bottom, when you turn it out, becomes the top.”

Garten covered the dish loosely with plastic wrap and placed a plate on top of the pudding, then set a heavy can on the plate to press it into the pudding and “compress the layers.” She put the dessert in the refrigerator to chill overnight.        

To release the dessert, the Barefoot Contessa star ran a knife along the outside of it to unmold it, then placed a cake stand on top of it and flipped it over. Garten sliced the summer pudding like a cake and revealed the stunning layers and juice saturated bread, then placed a dollop of homemade whipped cream alongside the slice.

“Who knew there were so many things you could do with bread?” she asked before taking a bite. “Even dessert.” Garten also makes a version of the summer pudding recipe with berries and rum whipped cream.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.