Homemade Gooseberry Ice Cream

Made from just four ingredients, this homemade gooseberry ice cream bursts with seasonal flavour and has a delicious hint of elderflower.

A tangy refreshing quick and easy to make ice cream which does not require making a custard.

Ripe gooseberries, impart a vibrant, tangy taste that perfectly complements the creamy richness of the ice cream base. This contrast creates a refreshing dessert.

Making ice cream at home allows the use of high-quality, natural ingredients, free from artificial additives and preservatives, resulting in a purer, more authentic taste.

Ingredients for homemade gooseberry ice cream

This gooseberry ice cream requires just four ingredients:

Scroll down for quantities and full printable recipe at the bottom of this post.

• Fresh gooseberries - Gooseberries are in season from May through to August but reach their peak in July. There are two kinds of gooseberries: the tart, cooking variety usually green, and the sweet, dessert gooseberries, usually red or orange which can be eaten raw. Both can be used to make this ice cream.
• Double Cream - Double cream has the highest fat content of cream, 48%. In the US you can substitute heavy cream but the ice cream will not be quite as rich or creamy.
• Caster sugar - I use golden caster sugar for most of my baking. It's the same as normal caster sugar, but it's unrefined and is a little more flavoursome with light caramel tones. 
• Elderflower Cordial-Elderflower and gooseberries are a great flavour combination. The syrup not only adds a hint of elderflower to the finished ice cream, but it also helps prevent large ice crystals from forming, resulting in a smoother texture.

Easy to make

Traditional ice creams are made with a custard base thickened with eggs and whipped cream, to which a flavouring is added, but for this recipe I have used all cream which does away for the need to make a custard. It is basically a frozen Gooseberry Fool!

If you are lucky enough to have an ice cream maker then the "hard" work is done for you. I use that term loosely making ice cream without one is not really hard work, just a little more time consuming.

The good news is you can still make this delicious ice cream without a machine. But do allow plenty of time. You will need to take the ice cream out of the freezer every hour or so and break up the ice crystals manually with a fork or a whisk.

There are two types of ice cream makers

• Freezer-assisted ice cream makers - The bowl is kept in the freezer or placed in the freezer several hours before required. Relatively inexpensive but you will need enough space in the freezer to store the bowl.
• Free-standing ice cream machines - With these machines, there is no need for lengthy pre-freezing, as they have their own compressor to chill the ice cream as it churns. However, they are expensive and bulky.

Homemade Gooseberry Ice Cream Step by step

Step 1

Top and tail the gooseberries wash then add to pan with water and sugar.

Step 2

Cook until very soft and tender.

Step 3

Puree the cooked gooseberries.

Step 4

Push gooseberries through a sieve and discard pips.

Step 5

Stir in elderflower cordial then cool and chill.

Step 6

Whip the cream to soft peaks then fold in the chilled puree.

Step 7

Pour into ice cream make and churn.

Step 8

Once the ice cream is almost frozen serve immediately as soft scoop or transfer to a deep freezer-proof container and transfer to the freezer to freeze completely.

 If you don't have an ice cream maker, pour into a freezer-safe container. Freeze for an hour. Remove from the freezer and beat with electric beaters or break up the ice crystals with a fork. Repeat this hourly freezing and beating process for three or four hours.

To serve

Remove the ice cream from the freezer and place in the refrigerator about 20 minutes before serving to allow it to soften sufficiently to scoop. Enjoy!

How long will homemade ice cream keep?

All homemade ice creams are best eaten as fresh as possible as they do not contain the preservatives or stabilisers that commercially made ice creams have.

For the best flavour consume within two weeks and do not store longer than 2 months.

If you are not serving straight away transfer to a freezer container that is the correct size for the volume of ice cream you have and has a tight-fitting lid.

If your ice cream does not fill the container because you don't have the correct size or because you have already consumed some, cover the surface of the ice cream with cling wrap or press down some baking parchment onto the surface to exclude air and prevent ice crystals forming on the surface.

📖 Recipe

Homemade Gooseberry Ice Cream

This easy to make gooseberry ice cream bursts with seasonal flavour and has a delicious hint of elderflower.

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword frozen dessert, summer

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Freezing and Chilling Time about 3 hours hrs

Servings 8

Author Jacqueline Bellefontaine

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Equipment

• saucepan
• Goblet or hand held stick blender
• sieve
• whisk
• bowls
• spatula
• Ice cream maker
• freezer proof container

Ingredients

• 500 g (1lb 2oz) gooseberries
• 125 g (4oz) golden caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons elderflower cordial optional
• 600 ml (1pt) double cream heavy cream

Instructions

• Top and tail 500g gooseberries by pinching the stem and flower end away. Rinse well.
• Place in a saucepan with 125g sugar and 2 tablespoons water, cook gently stirring occasionally, until the gooseberries are very soft and tender, about 10 minutes.
• Purée the gooseberries and then push through a nylon sieve to remove the pips. Stir in 2 tablespoons elderflower cordial. Cool and then chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
• Whip 600ml cream until it is just standing in soft peaks, fold in the gooseberry purée.
• Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker following manufacturers' instructions.
• Then tip the ice cream into a plastic freezer-proof container and freeze the ice cream for about 2 -3 hours to firm up. If you don't have an ice cream maker pour into a freezer-safe container. Freeze for an hour. Remove from the freezer and beat with electric whisk or a fork to break down the ice crystals. Repeat this hourly freezing and beating process for three or four hours until ice cream has fully frozen.

Notes

Cook's Tips

• Whether you are using an ice cream maker or freezing it in the freezer. To get the best results make sure that you chill the mixture before churning/freezing.
• If not using an ice cream maker. Freeze in a shallow container to help speed up the freezing process. Metal containers such as a loaf tin or roasting tin will conduct the cold faster and also help to speed up the time it takes to freeze.
• Transfer to a deeper container with a tight-fitting lid if not serving straight away.

 

Store

• For the best flavour consume within two weeks and do not store longer than 2 months.

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