Apologies for two posts in the same day, but work has been busy the last couple of weeks and I haven't had chance to report on the gooseberry harvest.
We picked plenty and made several pots of jam, but saved a few to make Gooseberry and Elderflower fools, based on HFW's recipe.
The combination of sharp goosegogs and musky elderflowers combine rather well.
We set aside 500g of the fruit and put them in a stockpot, together with about ten Elderflower heads, freshly picked from nearby trees.
To this we added a chunk of lemon zest and splash of orange juice and gently stirred in 4 tablespoons of sugar until dissolved.
Then, we simmered for about 15mins until the fruit softened and began to break up.
We then combined the contents of the two bowls, before dishing into glasses and chilling for a couple of hours.
Quite a rich desert, best served outside in the early summer sunshine (if you can find any). It's quite amazing how the flavour of the elderflower comes through after just 15 minutes in the pan.
The downside to the gooseberries was that we left over half the fruit on the bushes - but when we returned a week later, the lot had gone to the birds, so no goosegog crumble :(
I'll get some netting sorted out for next year.
