Gooseberry Fool Recipe

We've finally got something of a harvest from our collection of gooseberry bushes this year.  We have one called Invicta which is a green-skinned variety, and 2 Hinnonmaki Red, which are, unsurprisingly, red-skinned.  We also have another bush picked up cheap from our local diy store, but I'm not sure what it is yet - it's only a baby and hasn't fruited this year.


To celebrate the harvest we had gooseberry fool as our Sunday lunch treat today.  Here's the lovely simple recipe that we used, which is based on the one in Good Things by Jane Grigson.

Gooseberry Fool


350g gooseberries 
50g butter
sugar to taste
300ml double cream


Top and tail the gooseberries (a yawn but it'll be worth it in the end).  Place in a lidded pan with the butter over a low heat and cook until the gooseberries are soft.  Stir and a squish the gooseberries.  DO NOT sieve the gooseberries - the skins are a vital part of the flavour of the fool, and you really don't notice them in the finished dish.  Add sugar a tablespoon at a time until the fruit is sweetened to your taste.  Set aside to cool.


When the gooseberries are at room temperature, lightly whip the cream until it has very soft peaks, then gently stir in the fruit.  Pile the mixture into a dish/dishes and put them in your fridge until you need them - or, if you can't wait, eat straight away.  If you have the time and inclination, some crunchy almond or shortbread biscuits  are delicious with this.


If you are lucky enough to have a good supply of gooseberries this year, and you really hate topping and tailing, then I recommend this delicious recipe for Gooseberry Curd.  Yum..

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.