Recipes: Five ways with Gooseberries

Published on Friday 31 July 2009 14:51

THE heightened interest in 'pick your own' fruit farms, perhaps as a result of the recession – or, as I would prefer to think, an increased concern for food provenance – is good news for gooseberry lovers. The UK is particularly suited to growing gooseberries, which prosper in northern hemispheres and are said to improve with increasing latitude. This gives us the perfect opportunity to ignore the green 'acid drops' that are on sale in supermarkets.

Due to the high acidity of the fruit, few gooseberries are edible without the addition of some sugar. They are an important source of vitamin C, however, containing more than 20 times the amount in an orange – unusually, this benefit does not diminish during cooking.

Choose firm fruits that look close to bursting, with a reddish tinge if you want them to be sweeter. They will store well in the fridge for up to two weeks, by which time they will soften and ripen slightly, but will still be perfectly useable. Always wash thoroughly and top and tail before use.

1 Gooseberry ice-cream 450g gooseberries; 125ml water; 350g caster sugar; 375ml milk; 3 egg yolks; 250ml double cream

Put the gooseberries in a pan together with the water and half the sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes, then leave to cool. In a separate pan, bring the milk to a boil and remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, in a Pyrex bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale, then pour over the hot milk while still whisking. Pour this back into the milk pan through a sieve and cook gently until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Leave to cool.

Whizz the cooled gooseberries to a pure and set aside a third for later. Mix the remaining pure with the cream, then mix in the cooled custard. Churn this mixture in an ice-cream maker.

When made, add the reserved fruit pure and allow a couple of turns of the machine to give a marbled effect. Freeze in a plastic tub or use immediately.

2 Easy gooseberry sauce 225g gooseberries; knob butter; 1 tsp soy sauce; honey

Cook the gooseberries in a little water until tender. Blend to a smooth pure and stir in the soy sauce and butter. Season to taste with honey. If the sauce is still too tart, stir in a tablespoon of yoghurt, cream or fromage frais. Serve with fish or fatty roast meat or game.

3 Buttered gooseberries 450g gooseberries; 100g granulated sugar; 25g butter; 2 tbsp rosewater; 2 egg yolks; thin slices white bread, without crusts

Cook the gooseberries gently in the butter until they are soft enough to mash. Stir in the sugar, tasting occasionally to make sure you get the required sweetness. Add the rosewater and the beaten egg yolks, a little at a time. Stir with a wooden spoon over a gentle heat until the pure thickens.

Line the bottom of a ceramic dish with thin slices of crustless white bread, then pour in the gooseberry mixture and leave to set overnight. Serve with cream.

4 Gooseberry and elderflower cordial 450g gooseberries; 300g caster sugar; 1 litre water; 25ml elderflower cordial

Bring the gooseberries, water and sugar to the boil in a pan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Turn down the heat and simmer for about ten minutes, until the gooseberries are tender. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the elderflower cordial. Pour the mixture through a colander, pressing down firmly on the fruit to extract as much liquid as possible. Allow to cool and store covered in the fridge for up to three days.

5 Crunchy gooseberry layer 125g ginger nut biscuits, crushed; 50g unsalted butter, melted; 450g gooseberries; 1 tbsp water; 100g caster sugar; zest of lemon; 300ml double cream, whipped

Mix together the biscuit crumbs and melted butter and allow to cool. Place the gooseberries, lemon zest and water in a pan, cover and simmer gently for ten to 15 minutes, until soft. Stir in the sugar, then pure until smooth. Leave to cool.

Fold the cream into the gooseberries and spoon half the mixture into the base of six individual glass dishes or one large serving dish. Top with half the biscuit crumbs. Repeat the layers, then chill and serve.