Gooseberries are so English. Only we are mad enough to delve amongst the treacherous thorns to pick them and have an upper lip stiff enough to cope with a pH equivalent to battery acid.
Gooseberry bushes grow well in our climate (in spite of the gooseberry sawfly) and they are comically attractive, with their pale green or blush red fruits covered in bristles and silvery veins. Doc and I have a love hate relationship with them but somehow the fruit garden would not be complete without our bullets. We have purchased ‘dessert’ gooseberry bushes which gives the impression that the fruit can be nibbled straight from the fruit bowl. I am not sure about that myself.
After a few dry days and nicely swollen, un-netted fruits I thought I had better put on my leather gloves today and forage in the undergrowth for some of the gooseberries. The wet weather seems to have done the gooseberry bushes good because they have deep, lush green leaves, un-molested by any pests and there is a really substantial crop. From one bush alone I have picked 6lbs of good sized fruits.
Goosegogs make tasty, quick crumbles if you use a bucket full of sugar but with a bit of effort and friends or family to inflict them upon, goosegogs can be made into more interesting desserts. I quite like to make this Gooseberry and Frangipane Tart for a crowd, as the pastry and filling help to dilute the corrosive effect of the fruit and the roof of your mouth is more or less left intact. The finished tart serves more ladies than it does rugby players.
You will need a pastry case, baked blind in a 9 inch (24 cm) tart tin. I use ordinary shortcrust pastry but you can use sweet shortcrust pastry if you prefer.
Frangipane Filling
7 ozs (200 g) butter
7 ozs (200 g) caster sugar
6 large eggs, beaten
3 ozs (80 g) plain flour
9 ozs (250 g) ground almonds
Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy, then add the eggs slowly, beating well. Stir in the flour and ground almonds. Spoon the frangipane into the pastry case. (If I have some, I often spread a couple of tablespoons of gooseberry jam or jelly into the pastry case first.) Stud the top with fresh gooseberries and bake in a moderate oven (Gas mark 4, 180 C) for 30-40 minutes. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm with cream flavoured with elderflower cordial. This tart freezes well.
Gooseberry Fool
This recipe serves 4-6 people but it needs to be served with crisp biscuits such as shortbread or brandy snaps. Serve it in stemmed glasses.
2lbs (900 g) gooseberries, topped and tailed
4 tablespoons elderflower cordial
2ozs (55 g) granulated sugar
½ pint (284 ml) cold water
For the custard
½ pint (284 ml) single cream
½ pint (284 ml) double cream
The seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod (or you can use vanilla essence)
4 large egg yolks
4oz (110 g) caster sugar
1heaped tsp cornflour
Put the goosegogs, sugar, elderflower cordial and water into a non-stick saucepan and simmer until the gooseberries are soft. Drain off some of the cooking liquid and reserve. Blend the cooked goosegogs to a smooth puree, adding more liquid if necessary. (I sometimes sieve the puree to remove the seeds and make it even smoother.) Cool the puree.
Mix together the egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour and put aside. Put the cream into a non-stick saucepan with the vanilla seeds, over moderate heat. Scald the cream (get it hot but not boiling), remove from the heat and whisk into the egg yolk mixture. Tip the mixture back into the saucepan and heat gently, stirring continuously, until the cream is thick enough to coat the back of your wooden spoon. This will take longer than you think – about 20 minutes. Long, slow cooking time is necessary to prevent the custard from curdling. Cool, covered with greaseproof paper to prevent a skin forming on the custard.
Layer the goosegog puree with the custard in the glasses and decorate with a fresh gooseberry and a sprig of fresh mint or elderflower. Chill before serving.
If we did not grow gooseberry bushes, where would babies come from?
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