Spiced Brioche Autumn Pudding

A summer staple turned into a chilled autumn treat with stone fruits and warm spices. Add 2tbsp fruit liqueur to the strained fruit cooking liquid, if you like.

Hands-on time 30min, plus cooling and (overnight) chilling. Cooking time about 10min. Serves 8

• 100g caster sugar

• 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways and seeds scraped out

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• ¼tsp freshly grated nutmeg

• 600g dark-skinned plums, destoned and roughly chopped  600g nectarines, about 4 large, destoned and roughly chopped

• 8 slices brioche, about 275g, crusts removed, we used St Pierre Brioche Loaf

• Double cream, to serve, optional

1 Line a 900ml pudding basin with a double layer of clingfilm leaving excess hanging over the sides. In a pan over low heat, stir the sugar, vanilla pod and seeds, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, fruit and 50ml water, until sugar dissolves. Turn up heat to medium-high and bubble for 5min, until the fruit is soft. Set aside to cool and infuse for 30min.

2 Discard the vanilla pod and cinnamon sticks. Strain mixture into a bowl, to separate the juice and fruit.

3 Cut the brioche slices in ½, to make triangles. Using a pastry brush, liberally brush 11 of the triangles with some of the fruit juice. Use these brushed triangles to line the prepared basin, overlapping them slightly and pressing into the sides, so the whole basin is covered. Spoon in the soft fruit and smooth to level.

4 Brush the remaining brioche triangles with fruit juice and arrange on top of the filling to cover (save any remaining juice to serve, if you like). Cover with the excess clingfilm. Lay a plate on top and weigh it down with a couple of food tins. Chill for at least 6hr, or ideally overnight.

5 When ready to serve, turn pudding out on to a cake stand or serving plate and remove clingfilm. Serve with cream and leftover fruit juice, if you like.

PER SERVING 233cals, 4g protein, 5g fat (2g saturates), 42g carbs (30g total sugars), 3g fibre