Fruit Challenge #3: Gooseberries!

(Getting weirder, right?!)

I made it home from work in time last week to make it to the Allston Farmers Market which runs Fridays from 3pm - 7pm.   This was my first time going to this specific market and I have to say, things were winding down by the time I got there, but still a solid showing by local farms.  I ended up getting, among other amazing things, Gooseberries!  I don't know about you, but I had never tasted a gooseberry.  When I asked the guy from Lanni Orchards what they taste like, he looked at me and said, 'Not to be a smartass, but it tastes like a gooseberry.'  Hmm, ok smartass.  There was a green variety and a red variety.  I tasted the green and it was like a super-tart-blueberry-meets-kiwi kind of taste.  Interesting.  He then told me that the red variety, while still tart, was a touch sweeter.  Sold.  I grabbed a container and was on my way. 

 Gooseberries are pretty peculiar things.  It seems, however, that there is one pretty common thing you make with strange fruits.  So, what do you make with Gooseberries, you ask?  Why, a Fool, of course, whereby we reduce the fruit in their own juices with the help of some sugar and fold them into a delicious cream mixture.  Duh.

Started by cutting the spiny ends off these guys one by one.  The ends must be the only thing giving this fruit its shape because once you cut them off it is no longer a berry, but rather a gooey, shapeless blob full of black seeds.

I ended up with about a cup and a half of berries all said and done.  Tossed those into a pan with some sugar and let them do their thang.  From what I can tell, gooseberries are made for sauces and jams.  Probably about 103% water by volume, they break down immediately and look amazing.
After about 30 seconds:

Again after about 2 minutes and some careful mashing by Boy:

The next part of this is where it gets ridiculous - bear with me.  The next step in this recipe requires beating a cream/creme fraiche mixture to hold peaks.  Unless you have been lucky enough to be living under a (nice, cool, mossy) rock for the month of July, you know that it has been one of the hottest streaks of weather we have had in recent memory. Perhaps my recollection is slightly skewed, but if I am correct, it has been like 125F and 300% humid for the last 3 weeks straight.  I don't know how many of you have tried beating cream to stiff peaks in the last three weeks, but let me just save you the frustration.  It. Don't. Work.  (Yes, I know that is grammatically incorrect, thanks.)

I loaded Sebastien, my French Blue mixer, up with the cream/creme mixture and began mixing.  It was moving along wonderfully.  Then, all of a sudden, these beautiful peaks began to form.  Then, as quickly as they came they plummeted back to the bottom of the mixing bowl.  (If only I had been sly enough to catch a picture of my "WTF-just-happened" face to post...)  Boy and I stood over the mixer like two defeated children.  But wait, it started to look creamy again so what did we do?  We turned up the mixer, of course.  Let it go for about a minute and to our surprise we ended up with butter.  I don't think there is anything I love more in this world than butter, so, although I did not have the beautifully stiff cream I had originally hoped for, I was pretty excited.  Put it in a bowl and tossed it into the fridge for later consumption.

Tangent aside, I was dead-set on making this Fool successfully.  Once I was over the excitement of the butter I promptly grabbed Sebastien in one arm and supplies in the other and ran to the bedroom - the only air conditioned room in the house.  (More like a meat locker actually.) Boy walked in shortly thereafter and, once done laughing at me, snapped an action shot of a girl hellbent on a mission:

The moral of the story?  All it takes is one well-chilled room in your house to make a Fool.  It worked.  And it was everything we thought it would be and more.  Way more. 

(Obviously had to photograph and then consume said Fool in said air conditioned bedroom quickly to prevent any falling peaks.) 

An update on the butter: it wasn't long for this world.  Between Boy and I and a couple house guests, we polished it off in about 10 days.  However, I will be doing some research into how one makes butter the real way.   If making butter is as simple as I think it is there will be no more store-bought buttah for this household.

If you have air conditioning and would like to try your hand at fruit fool this summer, I used this recipe.  As always, drop me a line with any comments or suggestions!