After an hour of arguing with my Mom about centerpieces for my wedding reception, I decided that enough was enough. I dragged my Mom out of the house, away from wedding planners and magazines to have coffee and take our minds off the wedding. We went to Donna's Café near my parent's house in Baltimore. There was only one way to rebel against the stress of the wedding - I simply had to get a dessert so decadent and delicious that just the thought of it posed a risk of not fitting into my wedding gown.

My Mom didn't even open the dessert menu. "You want to make me feel guilty by not ordering a dessert?" I asked. "I already know what I want," said my Mom with a twinkle in her eye. I knew that twinkle. It was a sign that she had a very dark, very delicious secret - she knew the dessert to get at Donna's. When the waitress came to take our order my Mom asked for summer pudding. "I'll have what she is having" is all I said. When the waitress left, it suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea what I just ordered. "What on earth is summer pudding?" "You'll see," said my Mom.

The waitress returned with two rimmed bowls each holding a beautiful, thick slice of some berry concoction sitting in lightly whipped cream. A mint leaf and some raspberries crowned the plate. I cut through the soft slice with a spoon and watched the berry juices make pretty swirls in the cream. As I took the first bite the wedding worries melted away -- all I could feel were the sweet summer juices bursting in my mouth and filling me with joy.

After the first few bites in Zen-like concentration, we started discussing how this heavenly dessert was made. My Mom can recreate almost anything she's had in a restaurant. "If you really taste it, you'll be able to figure out how it's made," she always told me. We identified berries as raspberries and blackberries that were cooked with sugar. There might have been some red and black currants there too. That unique currant zing gave them away. The berries were layered between pieces of cake that soaked up their juices. Or was it bread? Bread, definitely bread. It didn't have the richness of cake.

As we finished eating and dissecting our desserts, my Mom smiled and looked more relaxed than I've seen her in months. It suddenly occurred to me that all the arguing was not about the flowers and color of the napkins. It was about her letting me go and feeling confident that I can figure life out even without a recipe.

Summer Pudding

Make this pudding in the summer, when the berries are plentiful and inexpensive. Any combination of red and black raspberries, red and black currants, blackberries and blueberries can go into the berry mix, but avoid using strawberries as their texture isn't right for this pudding.

The key to success of summer pudding is using the right kind of bread. You need to find a good firm loaf of white sandwich bread (pain de mie) that is not mushy like Wonderbread, does not have holes like baguette of ciabatta, and is not made from sourdough. Alternatively, you can use challah or brioche.

5 pints (10 cups) summer berries
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp Crème de Cassis or Kirsch (optional)
1 Lb loaf white sandwich bread, crust removed, sliced 1/2" thick
Heavy or whipping cream for serving

1. In a non-reactive (not aluminum) saucepan, cook berries with sugar on med-low heat stirring occasionally until berries break down and release their juices, about 30 minutes. Stir in Crème de Cassis or Kirsch, and take off heat. Let cool for 30-45 minutes until warm.
2. Line a 1 1/2 -quart soufflé dish (or a round dish 7-8" in diameter and 3" deep) with plastic wrap.
3. Line the sides and bottom with bread making a layer one slice thick. You'll have to trim the bread slices to fit as snuggly as possible.
4. Pour half of the berries into the bread-lined dish. Spread them over the bottom layer of bread. Make another layer of bread slices over the berries, trimming the bread as necessary to fit snuggly. Add the remaining berries and cover with the last layer of bread.
5. Cover the pudding with plastic and then a plate slightly smaller than the diameter of the pudding dish. Place a 3-5 Lb weight onto the plate and refrigerate overnight.
6. To serve, remove the weight, plate, and top layer of plastic wrap. Invert pudding onto a platter and peel off the rest of the plastic wrap.
7. Whip the cream until foamy, but not stiff. Slice pudding and serve with a generous amount of cream.