This month marks the start of gooseberry season in the UK. This often underused fruit looks a little like a large, slightly rounder grape. Early fruits are a veiny green and are firm and tart. They are at their best cooked and are most famously used to make a fool, a classic British gooseberry recipe. Later in the season the fruits take on a softer yellow or even red colouring and a sweeter flavour and taste good in their raw state.
This early in the season the underripe, rather hard fruits are usually used for a cooked gooseberry recipe. To prepare them, use scissors to snip the top stem end and the flower tail from the berries before washing them. Simple crumble or pie recipes can be made by poaching the fruit for about a quarter of an hour, or you can then puree to make tart gooseberry sauce for rich goose or pork roasts.
The chill of this ice cream recipe plays up the summery nature of this rather glamorous fruit:
Gooseberry ice cream: ingredients
To serve 8:
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
400ml double cream
200ml milk
500g fresh gooseberries, trimmed
3 tablespoons caster sugar
Gooseberry ice cream: method
First make a puree by cooking the gooseberries and sugar together in a saucepan with about four tablespoons of water. Simmer on a low heat until the gooseberries start to burst, then put the saucepan contents into a bender and whizz until smooth. Pass through a sieve to remove any skin and pips then allow the puree to cool.
Prepare the ice cream by whisking the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract together until pale. Put the cream and milk into a saucepan and heat gently, removing from the heat just before reaching boiling point. Go back to whisking the egg and sugar mixture while you pour the warm cream and milk in slowly until well combined.
Pour the custard into a clean pan and return to a gentle heat. Using a wooden spoon, keep stirring until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Allow to cool then refrigerate.
Mix the refrigerated custard with the gooseberry puree then pour into an ice cream maker and churn until thick. Decant into a plastic tub and freeze until ready to serve.
Serve in glass bowls with a couple of shortbread biscuits.
