Gooseberry & Elderflower Fool – Recipe from Grow and Cook

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Gooseberry & Elderflower Fool

Serves 6

Tart gooseberries are the first true fruit of summer and are complemented by the scent of elderflowers, which bloom at the same time. We find 1 litre tubs to be perfect for picking soft fruits into. The fruit can be used straight away or the lid put on, labelled and popped into the freezer. We freeze 1 litre tubs of gooseberries with elderflower heads in with them to make this fool in the winder. Any that are left over in the freezer are made into jam after the flower stalks are removed.

• 850 ml gooseberries
• 4-6 elderflower heads
• 50 ml water
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 270 ml cream

Put the gooseberries, elderflower heads, water and sugar into a saucepan. Count the flower heads as they go into the pan so that you can fish out all the stalks when the gooseberries are cooked. Bring the pan to the boil and simmer the gooseberries for 15-20 minutes, until soft. Taste the gooseberries and add more sugar if needed. Leave to cool.

Whip the cream until it is just gone past floppy, but not stiff. Fish the elderflower stalks out of the gooseberries and gently fold the gooseberries into the cream.