Despite being a foodie for almost ALL of my life, fearlessly trying anything my Dad ever put in front of me and hanging off of his apron strings in the kitchen, there are still a few foods that have managed to elude me until recently, gooseberries being one of them! So how did I come to post a recipe for this classic Gooseberry Cumble?!
My parents LOVE gooseberries, and a few years ago decided, that rather than visiting the local fruit farm every week to get their gooseberry fix that they should plant their own bush in the garden! Last year we had a huge gooseberry crop and my parents were soon asking me to whisk up various gooseberry filled dishes. You may remember that I posted a recipe for Gooseberry Fool, and even won a competition over @WeGrowOurOwn.co.uk for baking Gooseberry and Elderflower Butterfly Cakes!
We picked our first punnet off of our gooseberry bush just last week, and once again I was faced with the challenge of coming up with something delicious! This time, I decided to embrace the tartness of the gooseberry but top it with a rich, gooey, yet crunchy crumble top and so the recipe for Gooseberry Crumble was born.
You can make this recipe either in individual ramekins or as one big crumble to feed a hungry family, it will work just as well no matter what, but either way the quantities below should happily feed a family of four.
When I was younger I was probably put off by the strange little hairy fruits, but I wish I’d tried them sooner and I think this dish makes them accessible for anyone who hasn’t tried them before!
Classic Gooseberry Crumble Recipe
Ingredients
- For the fruit filling
- 1 large baking apple
- 1 punnet of gooseberries
- Squeeze of lemon
- 1 tbsp sugar
- For the crumble top
- 50g butter
- 100g plain flour
- 25g granulated sugar
- 75g rolled oats
Instructions
- Cut any stalks off of the gooseberries and place them straight into a pan whole along with the lemon, sugar and apple (cored, peeled and cubed into pieces roughly 1cm in size.)
- On a medium to low heat let the fruits stew down in a splash of water.
- Once the fruit has burst and the apple has become soft, transfer into an oven dish or suitable ramekins. (If serving later place these to one side and add the crumble mix just seconds before heating.)
- To make the crumble topping place the fat and flour into a food processor and pulse until you have fine bread crumbs.
- Stir through the oats and sugar once this stage is complete to ensure they stay whole (this will mean the topping is extra crispy!)
- Alternatively, rub the fat through the flour using your finger tips until you have fine bread crumbs then stir through the oats and sugar.
- Place into two ramekins and spoon over a generous helping of the crumble mix then place into an oven at gas 6 for 15mins or until the dish is hot through and the topping crispy!
- Serve with your choice of custard/cream/yogurt!
Top tip: the crumble topping can be stored in the freezer in bags so don’t worry if you’ve made too much!
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