Well that’s five kilos of gooseberries blanched and in the freezer. This trayful is about half that.
Two essential tips for gooseberries- don’t pick them until they’re ripe! Green gooseberries go pale and slightly squashy at this point and red ones go – well yes you guessed it – red! And they’re all sweet enough to eat off the bush, raw. If you think gooseberries are sour, horrible things not worth eating then you’ve suffered from having them picked before they’re ready. Tip two is grow them as standards – you don’t break your back picking them, you can see where they are so you don’t get slashed to pieces on the thorns, and they don’t get mildew because the air gets through them.
Gooseberry jam is fantastic- and dead simple: same weight of fruit and sugar, put it in jars when a sample jellifies easily.
Recipe for gooseberry jam:
Cook 3kg (6lbs) of gooseberries in 1ltr (1.5 pints) of water until reduced by one third. Add 3kg (6lbs) of sugar and boil until set. Use a brass or copper pan in order to retain the green colour.
Let us know if it works for you.
ooh, gooseberry serebrht sounds divine! but you just have me thinking. my little gooseberries that could were quite prolific this year, i have three more quarts and a bunch more cream in the fridge (yes i did make a year’s worth of butter again this year and that is the left overs). me thinks gooseberry ice cream could be the ticket!