Gooseberries

We are still hoping to go Pick Your Owning very soon - somehow it keeps getting put off, mainly because the weather has been so dreadfully rainy - but in the meantime I managed to pick up a kilo of gooseberries being sold by Kenyon Hall Farm at a local Craft Fair. Gooseberries are one of our favourite fruits & we hope to be growing our own in the next couple of years - they are so versatile, making fantastic jam, jelly, chutney, pies, ice cream & they always taste fantastic.

I didn't have a lot of time to spend ages topping & tailing (oh most hated of jobs) so decided I would have a go at a recipe for Gooseberry Curd from Auntie Kath's clipping collection.

Gooseberry Curd
1kg gooseberries (washed but not topped & tailed)
5 heads of elderflower if available (I used some elderflower cordial when stewing the gooseberries)
500g caster sugar
100 unsalted butter, cubed
4 eggs, lightly beaten

Put the berries & elderflowers in a pan with 2 tbsp of water (or elderflower cordial) & simmer very gently until the fruit is tender.

Leave to cool, remove the flowers & press the berries through a nylon sieve.

Put the fruit into a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, add the sugar & stir until it has dissolved. Add the butter a little at a time stirring all the time to make sure it is all melted & blended together.

Add the eggs a little at a time, using a sieve to strain out those nasty lumpy eggy bits that you don't want floating around in your curd.

Keep stirring for about 15 minutes making sure that the water in the lower pan does not boil - otherwise you will end up with gooseberry flavour scrambled eggs.

As soon as the curd has thickened up, remove from the heat, pour the curd into warm sterilised jars then cover.

This curd will keep for 2-3 weeks in the fridge. It contains partially cooked eggs so if that worries you don't serve it to anyone who is vulnerable to tummy upsets.