Boozy autumn pudding

Cut the plums into quarters. Peel and core the apples and pears (leave unpeeled if you prefer), cut the flesh into chunks and toss in a bowl with the lemon juice. If cooking the fruit immediately you don’t need to toss them in lemon juice.

Put the plums, apples and pears into a saucepan with 4 tbsp gin. Add half the sugar and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. Stir and make sure the mixture is moist enough.

Add the berries and currants and remaining sugar, then cook for 10-15 minutes more. The mixture should be tender with the apples and pears still holding their shape, and not totally collapsed. Set a large sieve over another saucepan and spoon the fruit into it, collecting the juice. Transfer the cooked fruit to a bowl. Bring the collected juice to a simmer and reduce until you have about 300ml. Add the remaining gin – plus a little more if you want – and let this cool.

Cut off the bread crusts. Cut out a circle the size of the base of a 1.5L pudding basin. Dip briefly in the fruit juice – don’t let it get too soggy, it must hold its shape – and put in the base. Cut the remaining bread into fingers. Dip each finger into the juice and line the pudding basin with it. Overlap and use smaller pieces of bread to plug any gaps – you need to line the whole thing.

Spoon half the fruit into the basin, then lay fingers of bread on top, dipping them into the juice as you go. Spoon the remaining fruit on top, then cover with more bread fingers dipped in the juices. Cover the top with clingfilm (not tightly). Put a plate that will fit onto the pudding, and weigh it down with heavy tins. Chill the pudding in the fridge for 24 hours.

To turn the pudding out, run a knife between the bread fingers and the basin. Set a serving plate on top and invert the pudding, giving it a good shake to turn it out. Serve with any remaining juice and extra thick double cream.