Friday, October 3, 2014

Gooseberry Fool Recipe A delicious dessert to celebrate April Fools Day! Stikkelsbær dessert

We love gooseberries (stikkelsbær) and still have some gooseberries in the freezer from last summer.  April Fools Day is coming up and we thought what better way to enjoy April Fools Day by making Gooseberry Fool.

Gooseberries make a classic Fool dating as far back as the sixteenth century in England.  A delicious mixture of lightly sweetened fruit puree, sweet custard and whipped cream.

The word "Fool" is believed to have originated from the French word "fouler" which means "to mash" or "to press".  And this is exactly what we will do with this fruit dessert. 


 First Step: Make the Gooseberry Stewed Puree 

Ingredients
  • 2 cups of gooseberries rinsed and drained, or frozen berries, thawed
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar or to taste
  • 2 tablespoons of Elderberry syrup or elderflower cordial or water
  1. Clean, top and tail the gooseberries. 
  2. Put the gooseberries into medium, heavy saucepan over low heat.  
  3. Add in the elderberry syrup and sugar into the saucepan. 
  4. Bring up to boil and then simmer for 5 to 10 minutes gently until the gooseberries are soft and pulpy.  Keep stirring often.
  5. Then crush the berries with a potato masher or a fork when they are thoroughly soft. 
  6. Taste the liquid mixture to see if it needs more sugar. It might be tart
  7. If you like the goosberries to be pureed, use a blender or a fruit processor.  Then strain if you like it smooth.  
  8. Cover and refrigerate until cool.

Second Step: Make the Custard
Check out our recent post on how to make homemade custard.  This custard recipe is very versatile and perfect for this dessert.

Third Step: Make the Whipped Cream

Ingredients
  • 1 1/4 cup of heavy cream
Before serving make the whipped cream until soft peaks.

Fourth Step: Combine all of the Ingredients

  1. Before you get started be sure the custard and the gooseberry puree have cooled down.
  2. When ready, gently fold the whipped cream into the custard into a medium mixing bowl. Leave about 1/4 of the whipped cream on the side for decoration later.
  3. Now we should be ready to prepare the serving bowl or individual glasses.  First, spoon the custard mixture onto the bottom of a serving bowl or individual glass.  
  4. Next layer, spoon the gooseberry puree on top of the custard layer. Then layer custard on top of the gooseberry puree mixture and so on.  Keep layering until the glass bowl is full with layers. This gives a beautiful contrast if serving in a glass bowl.  
  5. Keep the serving bowls or individual glasses in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 
  6. Decorate with additional whipped cream.  
  7. Add either thin slices of almonds, fresh gooseberries or chocolate on top as garnish before serving.

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