Berry Pudding
Looking for the perfect dessert to showcase ripe berries this season? Meet your new favorite: Summer Berry Pudding—a next-level twist on traditional banana pudding that ditches the bananas and doubles down on fresh berries.
This new favorite combines rich vanilla pudding, fresh berries, and vanilla wafers for a summer berry pudding that’s as beautiful as it is delicious. It uses simple ingredients and is ideal for those who love no bake desserts and want something fresh, seasonal, and easy to make in advance.
Ingredients needed for Summer Berry Pudding:
- Fresh berries: blueberries, raspberries and blackberries all work great
- Berry jam or preserves
- Vanilla wafer cookies or something similar (graham crackers or shortbread cookies would work in a pinch)
- Heavy Cream
- Eggs- room temperature
- Sugar
- Cornstarch
- Vanilla bean paste, extract, or a vanilla bean pod scraped out
- Butter
- Milk
Supplies needed:
- Medium saucepan for pudding
- Mixing Bowl
- Large bowl or 8×8 baking dish for assembling the pudding
The Process:
You’ll start by making the pudding. In a large saucepan over medium low you’ll whisk together egg yolks, a cup sugar, cornstarch, whole milk, and salt to create a velvety pudding. Once thick, you stir in butter and vanilla extract (or even a touch of almond extract for a twist). Let the mixture cool in a large bowl with plastic wrap or cling film pressed directly on the surface to prevent skin from forming.
While that chills, beat heavy cream or heavy whipping cream in a medium bowl or with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
Next, combine your berries with a bit of lemon juice and jam in a small bowl. (You can use any combo of berries: blackberries, raspberries blueberries, or strawberries.)
To assemble, layer the bottom of the dish with pudding, wafers, and berries. Repeat until you reach the top of the bowl. Chill the whole thing in an airtight container and cover the top of the pudding with cling film for at least 6 hours.
Store leftover berry pudding in the fridge covered snugly for up to 4 days.
HOT TIP:
Use a slotted spoon to avoid adding too much juice from the berries to the pudding which can make it a little watery.
Berry Pudding
Ingredients
- ¾ cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 and ½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 2 egg yolks, room temperature
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract, vanilla bean paste, or a scraped out vanilla bean
- ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 cups of fresh berries, (any mix of blueberries, raspberries or blackberries would be fine)
- 1 box of vanilla wafers
- 2 cups heavy cream
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine the sugar, cornstarch, egg, egg yolk, whole milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk together until combined, then continue whisking constantly for about 10 minutes, until the pudding thickens and starts to bubble.
- Add in the butter, remove from the heat, and whisk until completely melted. If there are any lumps, pour the pudding through a mesh sieve into a separate bowl. Allow pudding to chill in the fridge until cool to the touch.
- When pudding is chilled, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold 1 cup of the whipped cream into the chilled pudding and set aside.
- In a medium bowl gently toss the berries with the jam or preserves.
To Assemble:
First, place a layer of pudding in the bottom of a round 9 inch bowl (or something of similar size), then a layer of vanilla wafers (it doesn’t have to be perfect, because when you scoop up the pudding to serve, everything gets served together), then a layer of berries.
Repeat this pudding, wafer, berries layering until you have filled the bowl used up your ingredients. Top with remaining whipped cream garnish with berries with a few crumbled vanilla wafers. Place in the fridge for 5-6 hours, covered in tin foil or plastic wrap. (I chilled mine overnight and in the morning it tasted perfect!)
Notes
I don't suggest strawberries for this recipe as they can get watery when they sit and it will loosen the pudding and change it's overall texture.