Homemade Gooseberry Ice Cream

If you're ever wondering what to do with gooseberries, put Gooseberry Ice Cream at the top of your list. It's rich, creamy, and tart and a bit of a break from the norm. It might take a little effort, but it is always well worth it to enjoy homemade ice cream.

Jump to:

• 📖 Ingredients List
• 👩🏼‍🍳 Instructions
• 👩🏼‍🍳 Chef's Tips & Serving suggestions
• 🍷 Wine pairing for gooseberry ice cream
• ❄️ Storage & Freezing
• 🥣 Equipment
• ❓Recipe FAQ
• 🍽 Other dessert recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

To make this delicious gooseberry ice cream, we first prepare a fruit puree and mix it with custard and loosely whipped cream. Gooseberries are delicious summer fruits that look like large translucent green pearls with a white vein pattern. They make the best ice cream, as they are full of flavor, but have a sharp edge to their sweetness.

📖 Ingredients List

1. Gooseberries - Buy fresh gooseberries in the summer months, or you can use frozen gooseberries, too.
2. White granulated sugar - I do not like too much added sugar in this gooseberry ice cream recipe, so it retains some of its tart taste.
3. Water - The water is for the sugar syrup that the gooseberries gently cook in before we blend them into a puree.
4. Egg yolks - Using fresh egg yolks in ice cream makes it unbelievably rich and smooth. Here are some ways to use leftover egg whites. Always use room temperature eggs for the best emulsification.
5. Milk - Whole milk will give you the best results.
6. Cream - Heavy cream or double cream is folded into the gooseberry custard in the final stage to give the smoothest, creamiest finish.

👩🏼‍🍳 Instructions

How to make gooseberry ice cream

1. Place the green gooseberries, water, and sugar in a large saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook for a few minutes over gentle heat until the fruit softens and turns translucent.
2. Take off the heat and mash the fruit and liquid into a puree with a potato masher (or use an immersion blender). Then sieve the gooseberry puree to remove the seeds and skins, and allow it to cool completely.
3. Mix the egg yolks and cornstarch (cornflour) together in a large mixing bowl with a hand whisk.
4. Heat the milk in a saucepan until it starts to steam, then remove from the heat before it reaches boiling point.
5. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture very slowly so you don't scramble the eggs. Return the milk and egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat whilst stirring for around 5 minutes until it thickens into a gloopy custard.
6. Push the custard through a sieve into a clean, separate bowl, and then allow it to cool completely. Taste it at this point and add a little extra sugar if you think if needs it.
7. Mix the gooseberry puree and the custard together, then lightly whip some cream and fold it into the gooseberry custard.
8. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn for around 20 minutes or according to instructions. Transfer to a freezerproof container and freeze until needed.

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef's Tips & Serving suggestions

This is one of my favorite ice cream recipes to serve in summer when gooseberry bushes are full of fresh fruit. It works well after a lunch party or as an afternoon snack. To give a bit of texture to this easy gooseberry ice cream recipe, I sometimes crumble some polenta shortbread into the mixture before putting it into the ice cream maker to churn. You could also use storebought shortbread or something like Graham crackers or Digestive biscuits.

You can also enjoy the creamy gooseberry custard as a dessert in it's own right before putting it into the ice cream machine! Gooseberry fool is so delicious and so creamy and flavorful. As are all fruit fools!

🍷 Wine pairing for gooseberry ice cream

Creamy gooseberry ice cream is sweet, but tart gooseberries always need something strong that can stand up to them. I'd serve a chilled white port or Oloroso sherry or perhaps a Twinkle cocktail as gooseberry and elderflower are flavors that work so well together.

❄️ Storage & Freezing

Store gooseberry ice cream in a freezer safe airtight container in the freezer. As this ice cream contains egg yolks I do not recommend keeping it for longer than 1-2 weeks.

🥣 Equipment

Always weigh ingredients with a digital scale for the best results, measuring by volume can be imprecise. Use Mixing bowls and a Large saucepan, plus a Whisk and a Sieve to make the gooseberry custard ice cream. If you're making the shortbread and not buying some, you'll need a Stand mixer and a 9x13 baking pan to make the quantity listed in this recipe. You will also need an icecream-maker.

❓Recipe FAQ

🍽 Other dessert recipes

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

📖 Recipe