The tart fruit of the gooseberry bush is ideal for a creamy fool or sugary pavlova says Kerstin, or turn seasonal Picota cherries into a chilled Summer Pudding
I lived in Cholmeley Park, Highgate from the age of seven to 20 and sporadically after that between non-committal boyfriends.
It was my childhood home: a big, dark and damp Edwardian house with oak herringbone parquet floor, a dark green Aga in the kitchen and, at the end of the garden, a group of prickly gooseberry bushes. Lured by the bulbous hairy fruit, I tried it and immediately spat it out, too wincingly sour.
Today I also live in a dank Edwardian property, this time a two bedroom flat in Kilburn. The humidity is checked by a gas-run Aga oven, just as it was in my family home. And I have three lime green gooseberry bushes at the end of my garden. Unconsciously I’ve been recreating my childhood. Whenever I have a memorably vivid dream, so often I realise that it took place in that Highgate house.
Highgate is in my bones.
Gooseberries are difficult to find in the shops, and can be very expensive so you are almost obliged to grow your own. It took a couple of years for the bushes to bear fruit, so it’s not an instant fix.
This year’s thorny batch, sharp, tart yet refreshing, have been used in a gooseberry fool and as a topping on a pavlova. Gooseberries also work as an English version of the Mexican husk tomato, the tomatillo, in a salsa.
This time of year is also the moment for Picota cherries, cheap as chips from Spain at a quid a punnet. Other seasonal fruit can be used. I always keep a couple of bags of frozen forest berries in my freezer, to be hauled out and used for emergency puddings, or simply blended frozen to make a sorbet or granita ice.
Gooseberry Fool
Ingredients:
250 g gooseberries, topped and tailed
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
200 ml Greek yoghurt
200 ml Double cream
3 tbsp icing sugar
Method:
Put the gooseberries and the sugar into a medium pan and simmer until the berries have popped, Keep squishing them with your wooden spoon. Then remove from the heat and let cool.Add the vanilla paste to the Greek yoghurt, then add the double cream and icing sugar. Whisk until thick, but not too much. Leave to chill in the fridge for half an hour. Mix half the gooseberries into the creamy mixture, scoop into bowls, top with a spoonful of the gooseberry coulis. Serve
Gooseberry pavlova
Any berries can be used but the tangy sharpness of the gooseberry is a lovely contrast to the billowing cream and meringue.
Ingredients:
6 egg whites
370g caster sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
600 ml Double cream, whipped
150 ml Gooseberry coulis
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c
In a scrupulously clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks
Tip the sugar onto the silpat/parchment lined baking sheet and heat in the oven for 10 minutes. Then remove.
Lower the oven to 150c.
Gradually, using the silpat/paper, tip the caster sugar into the egg whites while whisking to stiff peaks. Add the cream of tartar.
Scoop or pipe out a pavlova shape onto the silpat/parchment lined baking tray.
Bake for two hours.
Leave the pavlova in the oven to cool.
Whisk the double cream until thick and ladle onto the pavlova.
Top with the gooseberry coulis.
Cherry Summer Pudding
I used Picota cherries for this pudding, but already pitted cherries can be bought frozen. This pudding is a great method for using up stale white sandwich bread. If you swap butter for margarine or coconut butter, it’s also vegan.
Ingredients:
350 g cherries, pitted
100 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
50 g butter, room temperature
5 to 8 slices stale white sliced bread, crusts cut off
Method:
Put the fruit and sugar into a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan and simmer over a low to medium heat for 10 minutes until all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Grease the pudding bowl.
Drain off the stewed fruit juice into a shallow bowl.
Dip each slice of bread in the juice and line the sides and base of the pudding basin with the slices, slightly overlapping.
Spoon the fruit into the bread-lined basin then add more slices to cover the top.
Place a saucer that fits inside the rim on top, add a weight such as a tin of beans, and place inside the fridge for a couple of hours.
Either dip the bottom of the bowl briefly into hot water or use a palette knife to loosen the sides. Flip it over onto the serving plate. Serve with cream or icecream.
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