This peach, fig, plum and croissant pudding is delicious up the hill as the shoot lunch finale or even as a surreptitious breakfast.

For a classic summer pud with a twist try buttermilk panna cotta with vanilla poached figs. It makes for the perfect sweet treat to see out the last of these long summer evenings.

PEACH, FIG, PLUM AND CROISSANT PUDDING

This dessert is perfect for feeding a crowd and I have often used it to end a bothy shoot lunch as it transports well up the hill (before it is turned out). If I am honest, my favourite way to eat it is for breakfast with double cream, as it’s like a fruit salad – just much more interesting.

Serves 12

• Half a bottle red wine
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 300g caster sugar
• 3 peaches, stones removed and cut in to 2cm chunks
• 4 plums, stones removed and cut into 2cm chunks
• 4 apricots, stones removed and cut into to 2cm chunks
• 4 figs, cut into 2cm chunks
• 400g strawberries, hulled and cut into 2cm chunks
• 260g blackberries
• 160g raspberries
• A few extra pieces of fruit and a few sprigs of mint for decoration
• 8 croissants

PEACH, FIG, PLUM AND CROISSANT PUDDING: THE METHOD

Since this is great for feeding crowds, you will need a bowl about 24cm wide by 12cm deep.

First of all, in a saucepan, bring the wine to a simmer with the vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. Add the peaches, plums, apricot and figs and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and stir through the rest of the fruit. Then leave to stand for 10 minutes.

Slice the croissants into three or four lengthways and line the bowl with them (keeping some to cover the top).

Start straining the fruit through a sieve to collect about a third of the juice then tip the fruit and rest of the juice into the croissant-lined bowl. Top with the remaining slices of croissant then cover with clingfilm. Weigh down with a few plates and rest in the fridge for at least six hours.

Finally to serve, remove the clingfilm and plates and flip onto a large plate; pour over some of the reserved juice. Serve with yogurt, crème fraîche or double cream.