Greengage, Nectarine And Gooseberry Fool
This recipe combines the tartness of gooseberries with the sweetness of nectarines and greengages in a delightful dessert trio. A crunchy almond crumble sets the stage, followed by a refreshing gooseberry jelly and tender poached nectarines. The luscious gooseberry fool brings a creamy element to the dish, making it a perfect balance of flavors and textures.
— Constant Cookbook
Ingredients
- 80g/3oz plain flour
- 80g/3oz ground almonds
- 80g/3oz demerara sugar
- 80g/3oz caster sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 80g/3oz chilled unsalted butter
- 500g/1lb 2oz gooseberries
- 125g/4½oz caster sugar
- ½ lemon
- 2 gelatine
- 250g/9oz caster sugar
- 150ml/5fl oz rosé wine
- 4 large, ripe nectarines
- 300g/10½oz gooseberries
- 75g/2¾oz caster sugar
- ½ lemon
- 300ml/10fl oz double cream
- 2 vanilla pods
- 50g/1¾oz icing sugar
- 8 ripe, firm greengages
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/320F/Gas 3. Lightly grease a baking tray.
- For the almond crumble, place all the dry ingredients into a free-standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly at medium speed, then add the butter and mix until a crumbly dough forms.
- Crumble the dough onto the greased baking tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden-brown, and then remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- For the gooseberry jelly, place the gooseberries, sugar, lemon juice and 200ml/7fl oz water in a bowl and set it over a pan of simmering water, making sure the water doesnât touch the base of the bowl. Cover with a lid and leave for one hour.
- Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, discarding the solids.
- Measure out 400ml/14fl oz of the gooseberry juice, pour into a pan and heat to near-boiling point. Remove from the heat.
- Squeeze out any excess water from the softened gelatine and add the gelatine to the juice. Whisk until the gelatine dissolves. Divide the mixture between eight round-bottomed glasses and leave it to cool. Place in the fridge to set.
- For the poached nectarines, put the sugar and wine into a heavy-based pan, add 500ml/18fl oz water and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
- Gently drop the nectarines into the poaching syrup. Bring back to the boil over a medium heat, then turn the heat down, cover and cook at a bare simmer for 8-10 minutes, until the nectarines are tender when tested with a small, sharp knife.
- Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Lift the fruit out of the syrup and pull off the skins, then return the fruit to the syrup and set aside, covered, at room temperature.
- For the gooseberry fool, place the gooseberries in a heavy-based pan and add the sugar, lemon juice and zest and a tablespoon of water. Cook over a medium heat for about five minutes, until you have a moist compôte; the softened fruit should be bound in its juices, but with no excess liquid remaining. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Pour the cream into a large bowl and add the vanilla seeds.
- Add the icing sugar to the cream and whisk until the cream is rich and aerated, but still retains its fluidity. Gently fold in the gooseberry compôte with a rubber spatula. The finished fool should drop easily off the spatula â it must still be creamy, not a stiff, set mousse.
- To serve, cut each greengage half into three wedges. Lift the nectarines out of the syrup and chop them into 1cm/½in pieces.
- Divide the chopped nectarines equally between the glasses containing the gooseberry jelly, and divide all but two tablespoons of the almond crumble between the glasses.
- Cover the crumble with a layer of gooseberry fool. Dress the sliced greengages in a little of the nectarine syrup, put them on top of the fool and finish with a fine sprinkle of the remaining crumble.
Cook Time
2H
Prep Time
PT30M
Yield
Serves 8
Comments
No comments found.