Recipes: Gooseberry cream pie | Gooseberry and elderflower jelly | Gooseberry fool

I love gooseberries because of how versatile and useful they are. They are as good in savoury recipes as in sweet.

They freeze exceptionally well, just packed into tough polythene bags, and they thaw quickly, providing that you bash the frozen berries if they have frozen in a mass, and spread them out in a single layer. There is only one small point to bear in mind with thawed berries – they tend to hold more moisture so you may need to increase their cooking time. A gooseberry cream pie is one of my favourite ways of eating gooseberries. But then, there are other delectable puds to be made: ice-cream or sorbet, with elderflower cordial added to enhance the flavour of the berries; or a gooseberry fool, made with creamy homemade custard. Gooseberries make a very good base for herb jellies, and a delicious gooseberry and elderflower jelly, when the elderflowers are out towards the end of this month, is a subtle way to eat these wonderful flavours on warm scones or buttered toast.

Gooseberry cream pie

Serves 6

For the pastry

4oz/110g butter, cut in bits and hard, straight from the fridge

6oz/170g plain flour

1 rounded tablespoon icing sugar

teaspoon vanilla extract

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Put the ingredients into a food processor and whiz to the texture of fine crumbs. Press these firmly over the base and up the sides of a flan dish measuring about 9in/22cm diameter. Chill for at least 1 hour, then bake straight from the fridge in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is pale brown. The sides will slip down towards the base. Scrape them back into place with a metal spoon. Cool the baked pastry case.

For the filling

1lb/450g gooseberries, topped and tailed

3 tablespoons elderflower cordial

1 large egg beaten with 3 large egg yolks

3oz/85g caster sugar

pint/284ml single cream

1 tablespoon golden granulated sugar – for sprinkling on top of the filling

Put the topped and tailed gooseberries onto the cooled baked pastry. Beat the elderflower cordial into the egg and yolks, and beat in the caster sugar.

Mix in the single cream and pour this into and amongst the gooseberries in the pastry case. Bake in a moderate heat, 350F/180C/Gas Mark 4, for 25-30 minutes, or until, when the flan dish is gently shaken, the centre of the pie filling barely wobbles. This may take a bit longer than the given cooking time, it depends so much on the gooseberries.

After 20 minutes of cooking, take the tart from the oven and sprinkle the tablespoon of granulated sugar evenly over the surface, then replace the pie in the oven to complete its cooking.

I like to serve this cooled, to the point when it is just warm. You can bake it in advance by several hours and warm it up, if it is more convenient for you.

Gooseberry and elderflower jelly

This makes about 3 pots

Put 3 clean jam jars, about 1lb/450g capacity, to warm.

2lb/900g gooseberries – no need to top and tail them

2 handfuls of elderflower heads

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Put the gooseberries into a saucepan with the elderflowers, and add water enough to come level with the surface of the berries. Cover the pan with its lid and cook the gooseberries gently until they collapse. Then cool them in their liquid.

Put a large sieve – if you don't possess a jellybag – lined with muslin over a large measuring jug or saucepan or bowl. Add the contents of the gooseberry and elderflower pan to the sieve, and leave to drip for several hours, or overnight. Remove the sieve and its contents, and throw away the gooseberry and elderflower combination, and wash out the muslin.

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Measure the liquid and put it into a large clean pan, allowing 1 pint/570ml of liquid per 1lb/450g preserving sugar. Over a gentle heat, stir the sugar until each grain has dissolved. Then raise the heat beneath the pan and boil fast, for 15 minutes. Draw the pan off the heat and drip some of the liquid onto a cold, clean saucer. Leave for 5 minutes, then push the surface of the trickle with your fingertip.

If it wrinkles, the jelly is done. If on the other hand, the trickle seems completely runny, reboil the contents of the pan for a further 5-7 minutes before pulling the pan off the heat and repeating the testing.

Pour the jelly liquid into the clean warmed jars, cover the surface of each with a waxed disc, and seal. When cold, label and store in a cool place, ideally a larder.

Gooseberry fool

I like to serve this in pretty individual glasses, with some gooseberry and elderflower compote in the bottom of each glass.

Serves 6

2lb/900g gooseberries, topped and tailed

4 tablespoons elderflower cordial

2oz/55g granulated sugar

pint/284ml cold water

Put the above ingredients into a saucepan – preferably not an aluminium one – and cover with its lid. Cook over a moderate heat, until the gooseberries are soft. Then cool completely. Put a spoonful of the gooseberries into each of 6 glasses. With a slotted spoon, put the remainder of the gooseberries into a food processor, draining off the syrup and leaving it in the cooking pan. Whiz the gooseberries to a pure and scrape this into a measuring jug.

For the custard

pint/284ml single cream

pint/284ml double cream

1 split vanilla pod

4 large egg yolks beaten together with

4oz/110g caster sugar and

1 level teaspoon cornflour

Put the two types of cream into a non-stick saucepan with the split vanilla pod, over moderate heat. When the creams are sufficiently hot to form a skin, take the pan off the heat and beat some of the cream into the yolks, caster sugar and cornflour mixture. Then scrape this back into the cream in the saucepan and, over moderate heat and, stirring continuously, cook until the cream is thick enough to coat thickly the back of your wooden spoon – about 15-20 minutes. Don't be tempted to turn the heat higher, the long slow cooking time is essential.

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Take the pan off the heat and, with the blade of a knife, scrape down the vanilla pod, and stir the sticky black seeds into the custard. Wash the vanilla pod thoroughly under running hot water, dry, and store in a polythene bag to use once more. Cool the custard, stirring occasionally.

Fold together the rich, creamy custard and the pured gooseberries, and divide evenly between the glasses, on top of the compote of gooseberries. I don't think any garnish is necessary, but if you wish, a sprig of elderflower on top of each would look pretty.

This article was originally published in the Scotsman June 4th, 2011

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