It’s amazing how a little liqueur and some fresh ginger can jazz up an old standard. You can make this as one large dessert mold or in six individual molds. This recipe should be refrigerated overnight. Float the puddings on the Ginger Crème Anglaise and garnish them with fresh mint leaves.

Summer Pudding
12 to 18 slices of day-old white bread, crusts removed
1 cup (240 mL) red currants or ½-inch (1.2-cm) slices of rhubarb, rinsed and drained
2½ cups (600 mL) blueberries, rinsed and drained
3 cups (720 mL) raspberries, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp. (15 mL) lemon juice
1¼ cups (300 mL) water
7 to 8 Tbsp. (105 to 120 mL) sugar
up to 2 Tbsp. (30 mL) raspberry liqueur such as Chambord
3 nectarines or peaches, peeled and cut into ½-inch (1.2-cm) pieces
1 cup (240 mL) strawberries, washed, drained, hulled, and cut into ½-inch (1.2-cm) pieces
1 tsp. (5 mL) lemon juice
1 tsp. (5 mL) sugar
fresh mint for garnish

Ginger Crème Anglaise
2 cups (475 mL) homogenized milk
1¼-inch (3-cm) chunk of fresh ginger 1½ inches (3.8 cm) in diameter
1 tsp. (5 mL) vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
½ cup (120 mL) sugar

For the pudding
Line an 8-cup (2-L) mold or individual 1-cup (240-mL) molds with the bread, reserving enough slices to cover the top. Put the red currants (or rhubarb), blueberries, raspberries, 1 Tbsp. (15 mL) lemon juice, water, and 7 Tbsp. (105 mL) of sugar in a saucepan and place on medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, until the berries have broken down. Taste and add more sugar if necessary. Remove from heat, add the Chambord, and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Mix the nectarines, strawberries, 1 tsp. (5 mL) lemon juice, and 1 tsp. (5 mL) sugar together. Fill the molds with the cooked berry mixture and top with the nectarine mixture. Drizzle some of the juices on top. Cover the top of the molds with the extra pieces of bread and drizzle more juice on the top so that the bread turns red. Cover them with plastic wrap. Reserve any extra juice.

The puddings need weight on them so that the juice will permeate the bread casing. With the individual molds you can use pie weights or washed stones. If you are making one large pudding, place a plate a little smaller than the mold over the plastic wrap and weigh down with canned food.

Refrigerate overnight. Check in the morning that the top and sides of the molds have turned ruby red. If they have not, pour a little more of the reserved juice over each mold and return to the fridge.

For the Ginger Crème Anglaise
Pour the milk into a saucepan large enough to hold all the ingredients. Slice the ginger into ¼-inch (.6-cm) coins, add to the milk, and bring to a simmer. Remove from the stove and stir in the vanilla. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until they are pale yellow and fall from the whisk in ribbons.

Place a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients into a larger bowl of ice.

Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and return to the stove over medium-low heat. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the mixture has thickened just slightly. The custard is ready when you lift the spoon out, draw your finger down the back of the spoon, and the line doesn’t fill in.

Quickly pour the crème anglaise through a fine sieve into the bowl resting in ice. Taste to see if it is gingery enough. Remember that the taste of the ginger will fade as the custard cools.

Take the ginger out, if you wish, or leave it in longer for a more pronounced taste. When it reaches room temperature press plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate until half an hour before serving.

Carefully unmold the summer puddings and place them in the middle of each plate. Drizzle with the remaining juice if any white bread shows through. Pour the room temperature crème anglaise around the puddings and garnish with mint leaves. Serves 8.

This recipe is a snap. Gently warming the strawberries really intensifies their flavour. Make the compote when strawberries are at their peak. Those woody, pale, winter ones just won’t do.

2 cups (475 mL) strawberries
6 to 8 Cinnamon Melba Toast (recipe below)
1/8 cup (30 mL) fine white sugar
squeeze of lemon juice
good store-bought vanilla ice cream

Wash and hull the strawberries. Cut into quarters and roughly mash with a fork or an electric wand.

Break the Melba toast into large crumbs.

Put the strawberries in a saucepan. Add the sugar and heat, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice, and taste. Add more sugar and lemon juice if necessary. You can prepare the recipe to this point up to 8 hours ahead. Reheat before serving.

Scoop ice cream into bowls, ladle some warm strawberries on top, and garnish with Melba toast crumbs. Serve immediately.

Extra ice cream will keep in the freezer for 2 weeks, and extra compote will keep in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.

Cinnamon Melba Toast
10 or more slices Pain au Lait, challah, brioche, or white bread, crusts removed
3 Tbsp. (45 mL) unsalted butter, or more, if needed
2 Tbsp. (30 mL) finely granulated sugar mixed with 1 scant Tbsp. (15 mL) ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC).

Roll out the bread slices with a rolling pin until they are about 1/8 inch (.3 cm) thick. Lightly spread both sides of each slice of bread with butter.

Mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

Cut the bread into triangles, fingers, squares, or circles.

Cover a baking sheet with foil. Place the bread on the foil and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes. Turn the bread over and slightly sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture on the bread after you have turned it.

Bake until golden brown. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Serves 6 to 8.

I love the marriage of South American and Sicilian tastes. Dolce de leche, much loved in Latin America as a sweet treat, is basically caramelized condensed milk. It may not sound too appetizing, but this is worth taking a flyer on. The practice of sandwiching ice cream in a sweet roll comes from Southern Italy, where bread is eaten with almost everything. Use small, dinner-sized rolls if you can find them and serve 2 per person.

4 large, or 8 dinner-sized Pain au Lait, brioche or challah rolls
1 11-oz. (300-mL) can condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 quart (1 L) good vanilla, chocolate or hazelnut ice cream

To caramelize the milk, place the unopened can of condensed milk upright in a saucepan at least 3 inches (7.5 cm) taller than the can. Pour enough water into the saucepan to cover the can by 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm). Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1½ to 2 hours, checking periodically that the can is always covered with water.

Remove the can from the water and let cool for at least 15 minutes. Be careful opening, as the mixture may still be warm. Spoon what is now dolce de leche out of the can and reserve.

Cut the rolls in half and toast under a broiler.

Spread a thick layer of dolce de leche on the bottom half of each roll, spoon on a scoop of ice cream, and top with the other half of the roll.

You’ll have some dolce de leche leftover. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, although in our house it seems to disappear much more quickly. Serves 4.