Gooseberry Ice Cream Food

GOOSEBERRY ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Place 1lb of gooseberries, ½ cup of water and 1 cup of sugar (or to taste) in a saucepan and simmer for approximately ten minutes.
• In a separate saucepan, make the custard by heating 1 ½ cups of milk and ¼ cup of sugar.
• Bring to boiling point and remove from the heat.
• In a heatproof bowl, whip up 3 egg yolks with a further ¼ cup of sugar. Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture and then put back into the saucepan on the stove and stir over a gentle heat until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Do not allow to boil.
• Cool both the fruit and custard down and liquidize and/or sieve the fruit mixture to make a puree.
• Set aside 1/3 of the fruit puree for use later.
• Mix the remaining 2/3 of the fruit puree with the ¼ cup of glucose powder.
• Mix this with 1 cup of whipping or double cream and add in the custard mixture.
• Pour into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers instructions to freeze the ice cream.
• When ready, mix in the remaining 1/3 of the fruit puree very roughly, leaving a marbled effect.
• Place directly into the freezer and freeze for at least one hour before serving.

GOOSEBERRY AND ELDERFLOWER ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Top and tail the gooseberries, wash them and put them in a saucepan with the water and sugar; cover and bring slowly to the boil, stirring occasionally to a pulp.
• Keeping the heat low, simmer the gooseberry pulp, uncovered, for 5 minutes; allow to cool slightly then put in a blender and process until smooth; sieve to make a smooth puree and set aside to cool.
• When the puree is cold, add the elderflower cordial and cream; mix well and check the sweetness, adding a bit more sugar if required; pour into a plastic container and freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• NOTE: allow the ice cream to soften for 10 minutes before serving.
• The original recipe instructs you to process or whisk the ice cream when partially frozen, re freeze then repeat in order to break down any ice crystals that may form; I must confess that whenever I see this instruction I always ignore it and have never had a problem with grainy ice cream: I'll leave the choice up to you, but of course it will increase the preparation involved.

GOOSEBERRY & ELDERFLOWER YOGURT ICE

Steps:

• Tip the gooseberries and sugar into a pan with 2 tbsp water. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and simmer for a few mins to soften the berries.
• Remove from the heat, carefully tip into a food processor and whizz to a purée. Add the elderflower cordial and whizz again. Taste to check that the purée is sweet enough and has enough elderflower flavour - remember that the flavour will be diluted by the yogurt, so it needs to be quite sweet. If not, add a sprinkle more sugar or a splash more cordial and whizz again. Mix the yogurt and milk until smooth, then add the purée and mix again.
• Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine. Churn until frozen - about 2 hrs.
• Pour the frozen yogurt into a container and freeze for at least 3 hrs. Will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.