Where has this week gone? I seemed to have missed out a few days this week and now I am playing catch up. There is so much to do and just not enough hours in the day for me. So my plans were to make a start on the gloss painting which I have yet to finish but as usual other things get in the way. Maybe next week??
A lovely neighbour of mine gave me some bags of frozen gooseberries which she didn’t want so I thought I would make a start and use some of them up. I spent some time looking at recipes to use the gooseberries in and yesterday I managed to bake a couple of standard recipes with a gooseberry twist. An Apple and Gooseberry Crumble (to use up some gooseberries) and an Apple & Cinnamon Scone Round (which used up the apples that were on the turn). Also, I repeated the Mini Gooseberry and Hazelnut Tarts which I baked last week. I am hoping to share the recipe for these tarts for you to have a try. Are you a lover or a hater of gooseberries? I don’t think gooseberries are a very popular fruit these days as they are a fairly tart fruit in my opinion, well the green ones are anyway, so they need to be added to sweet but quite subtle flavoured ingredients to enhance the flavour.
![](https://www.love-to-bake.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/gooseberrytarts1-1-1024x610.jpg)
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Gooseberries are packed full of vitamin C, phenols, fibre and antioxidants and a great fruit to include in your diet but you just need to be inventive as to how to do that. Definitely an acquired taste I think and one which I am working on as I am struggling with them too 🙂
Gooseberries when cooked take on a rhubarb texture but have no real flavour of their own I don’t think. The Apple and Gooseberry Crumble is a big hit especially with the husband who enjoyed some last night with evaporated milk. I did add a touch of cinnamon (instead of lemon) to the gooseberries when I defrosted them in a pan with a bit of sugar and water and it definitely made the gooseberries less sour than the last time I used gooseberries in my baking. Also, I added cinnamon to the crumble mix and it is a lovely delicate addition the the dish. The Apple & Cinnamon Scone Round I made with chopped apple as I like the look of the apple pieces in the scone when you eat it. A personal thing I know but you can always grate the apple before adding it to the scone mix. As for the Mini Gooseberry Tarts, I used a pastry base with a frangipane mixture as the filling but the frangipane contained chopped hazelnuts, as well as, ground almonds. I added the gooseberries to the top of the mix so that they sink in when baking in the oven. A dusting of icing sugar finished the tarts off. 🙂
Lots of gooseberries used in my bakes yesterday so I wonder if I will convert my children to eating another fruit – gooseberries ???? I will let you know how it goes 🙂
For the weekend, I have a busy Saturday planned as I am off to Manchester with my daughter for an offer day. A roadtrip for two which will be strange but quite nice at the same time. However, I have never been to Manchester before so I think I am slightly nervous about it all. I think Sunday will be a quiet day at home with maybe a walk thrown in at the most 🙂