An easy, make ahead, no bake dessert that is both elegant and delicious. Fresh summer berries fill the middle and mingle with the delicious flavor of cinnamon. Summer Berry Cinnamon Bread Pudding is both unique and absolutely wonderful!
Being a Work-at-Home mom, I spend most of my day at my computer, pounding away at my keyboard, or shuffling through paperwork on my desk.
If it’s a good day, I’m often standing in my kitchen mixing up a delicious recipe for my blog.
Because I spend so much time on the computer, it is imperative for me to get up, move around and to get my mind off work a few times throughout the day.
It helps me to stay focused, but really it’s so I don’t go crazy.
The one thing I have struggled with, is break time.
For years, at lunchtime, I used to sit and eat my lunch at my desk or I made personal phone calls from my desk, all so I could keep working. Never really taking a break.
Always staring at the computer or making notes for later, that wound up with sandwich crumbs or sauce stains all over them. Seriously.
About a year ago, I realized how much I got done in the afternoon if I took a break about midday and ate my lunch somewhere else, anywhere else, besides in front of my keyboard.
That’s when I discovered The Chew. I was hooked from the first episode I watched.
I have yet to meet a recipe from the show that isn’t doable in my own kitchen and doesn’t turn out perfect every time.
When I watched Carla Hall show us how to make her easy Summer Pudding, which you can see in the clip below, I knew we were making it. We did.
Several times. And each time we make it different. That’s what I love about recipes from The Chew.
Simple, Elegant, Understandable. Delicious. AND changeable.
I can make this Summer Pudding, a Fall Pudding or a Spring Pudding, simply by changing the fruit or the flavors.
In fact, I have big plans for this Fall. Just wait until you see another version we made of this coming in early October, just in time for our cool autumn weather.
I stuck with Carla’s directions, but I changed up the ingredients a bit.
We chose a thicker Cinnamon Bread instead of just a white bread.
I was hoping that the thickness meant it wouldn’t seep all the way through and I was very pleasantly surprised to get gorgeous streaks of berry juice running through the cinnamon bread when we tipped it out of the bowl. I also used different fruit.
We went with Strawberries, Blueberries and Cherries and then used Cherry Preserves as our Spreadable Jam for the bread.
We topped each slice with a homemade coconut whipped cream and sprinkled some nutmeg on top rather than cinnamon just for a different flavor.
We served this at a summer BBQ gathering with some friends and everyone had seconds, leaving us with only one large piece.
The next morning my 19 year old son and I shared the last piece for breakfast with some coffee and it was fabulous.
He confessed that he had actually had three servings the night before and declared that it was his favorite dessert ever and his favorite of all the versions we had tried out.
This makes me happy because it’s a simple, no heat dessert that is just perfect for any gathering.
Right now, it’s still hot and humid and frankly gross.
I don’t want to open the curtains on my windows, I don’t even want to open a door for someone to leave, and I certainly don’t want to turn on my oven and heat up my house either.
That’s why I loved this dessert. It’s fantastic for a hot summer night, or a BBQ or a party. No Bake, prepared ahead and is simply delicious. Nobody could believe it was slices of bread around the outside holding it all together.
It really resemble a cake at the end.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of ABC’s The Chew. The opinions and text are all mine.
Summer Berry Cinnamon Bread Pudding
Summer Berry Cinnamon Bread Pudding
Ingredients
- 12 slices cinnamon bread crusts removed
- ½ cups cherry preserves
- ½ pint blueberries
- ½ pint strawberries sliced
- 1 cups cherries sliced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- Whipped Cream we used Homemade Coconut Milk Whipped Cream
- nutmeg optional to sprinkle on top
Instructions
- Line a medium sized glass bowl with plastic wrap. I actually used waxed paper because I was completely out of plastic wrap. It worked just fine.
- On your crustless cinnamon bread, spread the cherry preserves over each of the slices of bread on one side.
- Line the bowl with the slices of bread forming a bowl with the bread, with the preserves side up (it will be touching the fruit mixture). Use as many pieces of bread as it takes to create a full bowl. It COULD take more than the suggested 10-12 slices depending on your bowl size. Also be sure to reserve a few slices of the bread to use later for the top. (3 or 4 should do it)
- In a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat, combine the sliced strawberries, blueberries and sliced cherries with the lemon juice and sugar.
- Cook until the berries begin to burst and release their juices (mostly the blueberries are what you are watching for, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Before I poured the mixture into the bread bowl, I used a masher to gently mash the berries up only a little more to release more juice. This is probably not necessary, but I did it anyway and I liked the results.
- Pour the fruit mixture into the bread lined bowl, careful to get it all inside your bread bowl.
- Cover the top of the bread bowl with the extra reserved slices of cinnamon bread, placing the cherry preserve side down touching the fruit. Don’t push it down, just gently press to have the mixture adhere to the bread.
- Place a plate over the top to weigh it down.
- Place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours to chill. Overnight is best, however I made it at about 8:00am and we served it just about 7:30pm, not quite the whole 12 hours, and it was perfect.
- When you’re ready to serve it, remove the plate and decide what platter you’d like to serve it on. Place the platter over the top of the bowl, replacing the plate and gently flip the dessert over onto the platter. Make sure you hold everything or you could lose the whole thing. (watch the clip to see how they did it if you’re nervous)
- Carefully remove the bowl, using the plastic wrap or waxed paper to gently pull it down out of the bowl. Once it has been released, you can pull the plastic wrap/waxed paper off and you should have a gorgeous dessert staring back at you.
- Slice your portions and serve on a plate topped with the coconut milk whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg. (you could mix the nutmeg into the whipped cream while you’re making it, if you’d rather do that).
- Serve immediately.
I’ll be honest – I love the look of yours better than Carla’s! I think I need to catch this show again – I’ve never given it much of a chance – great post!
Thanks Pam! I was really happy when it came out this way. I feel like this is the kind of dessert I could even serve at an elegant brunch!
The Chew is loads of fun.
I’ve never heard of a dessert like this before, Nicole, and now I’m super intrigued! I love your variations, especially the use of the cinnamon bread. This looks super yummy and if your son gave it such a resounding thumbs up, I’m sure it’s a big hit!
I hadn’t either Nancy, that’s what I love about The Chew. I see new things or a different take on things and voila – new to me food. 🙂
I loved the cinnamon bread SO much more than the regular bread. Gave it some great flavor.
Missed you this weekend. Next year for sure! xoxo
Loving that hidden berry center!
haha thank you. It’s like a big surprise waiting to happen and it’s SO good!