Sneak a look under your gooseberry bush in late June and you will see lots of little berries forming. They are delightfully hairy and translucent.
If you thin them out you will encourage fewer but much larger berries. Go along each branch picking every other one and there will be enough to make a small batch of gooseberry curd. It doesn’t keep long so is ideal for using up a small amount of fruit and is infinitely superior to its common lemon cousin.
What you’ll need
- 300g gooseberries
- 75g unsalted butter
- Juice of one small lemon
- 280g granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, beaten and strained through a sieve
- 4-5 small jars sterilised and warmed.
Method
- Put the gooseberries and lemon juice in a pan and cook on a gentle heat until the berries have softened and you can squish them easily.
- Strain them through a sieve to remove the seeds. (All this straining is so that you have a velvety smooth curd.)
- Put the gooseberry puree into a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Add the butter and sugar and mix until melted. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until tepid.
- Add the egg, making sure that the fruit is NOT too hot otherwise you will have scrambled egg.
- Turn up the heat again and stir constantly until the mixture thickens.
This can take 10-15 minutes so be patient!
