Gooseberry season must be one of the shortest in the fruit harvesting world - blink, and you'll miss it! I think it starts sometime in June, and before you know it, they're all gone. I'd never made gooseberry fools before, and thought I'd missed the opportunity, but was glad to find some punnets on Friday (I checked today, and they'd all gone!).
I've had a few attempts since Friday, so you can imagine how much fool I've got in the fridge, but it's given me a chance to personalise a recipe: I swapped double cream for whipping cream, added a kiwi in with the gooseberries for more colour, and threw in a few walnuts for a bit of bite.
I know a flower girl that works around the corner from where I live and she gave me a massive bunch of chamomile flowers that I absolutely adore, so I went a bit wild and used them everywhere.
Serves 6
400g gooseberries
1 kiwi, peeled and pureed
1 tbsp caster sugar
4 tbsp elderflower cordial
1 handful chopped walnuts
284ml whipping cream
1 vanilla pod
100g icing sugar
A tub of vanilla custard
1. Wash the gooseberries and place in a pan with the caster sugar on a medium heat. Keep stirring until they form a pulpy mass, then add the elderflower cordial, stir and set aside. Once cool, add the kiwi and mix in the walnuts. Stir in vanilla custard according to taste.
2. Whip the cream with the icing sugar the vanilla seeds scraped from the vanilla pod. Layer alternatively in wine glasses, starting with a layer of whipped cream, followed by a layer of gooseberry mixture, followed with a final layer of whipped cream. Top with gooseberries. Serve fresh.
