Gooseberry Crumble

Looking for a tasty gooseberry recipe? This is it. Juicy, tart gooseberries with a buttery, crispy topping makes this gooseberry crumble an easy dessert that will disappear fast. Enjoy with ice cream or as is.

Gooseberry Base:
5 cups gooseberries, cleaned of debris and tough ends removed (top and tail), about 1¾ lbs
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon or orange zest, freshly grated
2 Tbsp. lemon or orange juice, freshly squeezed
1½ Tbsp. cornstarch
baking spray or butter, to grease dish

Crumble:
⅔ cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
⅓ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch kosher or sea salt
⅓ cup unsalted butter, cold, shredded or cubed (5 Tbsp.)

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4). Grease a 9-10" round baking dish or similarly sized baking dish with baking spray or butter and set aside.

To a bowl, add gooseberries, sugar, zest, juice and cornstarch, stirring to combine. Pour into prepared dish. Set aside.

Note: One of the great things about crumbles, is the berry syrup at the bottom of the dish after it has baked. It's delicious spooned over the crumble and ice cream. If, however, you want things more set/less juice, you can add a little more cornstarch, about another ½ Tbsp. or so.

To Make the Crumble:
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Add cold butter to the crumble. Use a pastry cutter (or two knives) to cut butter into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbles and some buttery clumps.

Assembly:
Sprinkle crumble over gooseberries. Place the dish on a baking tray to catch any spills that may happen (makes for easier clean up).

Bake 50 minutes or until bubbly and the top is golden brown and crispy.

Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool 30 minutes or so before serving. This allows the crumble to set up and cool down.

Serve as is or with ice cream. Drizzle the gooseberry juices/syrup over top for an extra punch of flavour.

Makes 6 servings.

Cook's Notes:

• As mentioned above, the green (less ripe) gooseberries are tarter than the ripe purple/red ones. Depending on how much you have of each will impact just how tart or sweet your gooseberry crumble is.
• The variety you use in this gooseberry dessert will also impact the colour of your crumble. If you use a lot of riper gooseberries, you will end up with a rich, pinkish colour (like you see here). Alternatively, if you use a lot of green gooseberries, you will end up with a paler colour.
• When cleaning gooseberries, keep in mind that the green ones are a lot firmer than their riper counterpart. Therefore, when cleaning, they may be easier to handle. Should you slightly squish the purple/red ones, no worries. Still use them because they're getting baked anyway and will break down.
• Let the gooseberry crumble cool for about 30 minutes before digging in. This will give things a chance to settle and cool down.
• You can use either lemon or orange zest and juice. Of course, the lemon will give yield more tartness, while the orange will add more sweetness.
• Always zest your lemon or orange before juicing.