I do love a good gooseberry and at the time of developing and writing this Gooseberry Fool Crumble recipe I had got my hands on a punnet for free thanks to A B Fruits, who are a local fruit and vegetable supplier for my favourite local café The Pavilion. The freebie was thanks to a wonderful evening I had at The Pavilion when they up with Grub Club in Cambridge and hosted Bedford’s first Supper Grub Club.
Childhood Gooseberry Memories
This takes me back to my punnet of gooseberries and enabled me to relive a wonderful memory of my childhood. I distinctly remember loving our garden in our old house growing up, we have half of it sectioned off to form a fruit and veg patch, it was very well stocked and us girls loved harvest time. There was one thing missing though, gooseberry bushes…and boy did I love a good gooseberry!
Our wonderful neighbours Betty and Harvey had lots of gooseberry bushes all within reach of our chicken wire fence (can you see where this is going?) I remember one particular summer sneaking behind the garage out of sight of our back door and squeezing my hand and arm through the wire fence to pluck each and every gooseberry off the closest bush.
Harvey caught me. He was (and still is bless him) a lovely man and he would have thought the whole thing very amusing, especially as I panicked and got my arm stuck trying to withdraw it at speed. I must have looked like a little frightened animal caught in a trap. Needless to say, my scrumping days were over that summer and I seem to recall a big of a dicky belly that night too so karma played its hand promptly.
I still love gooseberries though!
What dairy free cream should I use?
Dairy Free / Vegan Creams
I get asked ‘what is the best dairy free cream to use’ a lot, so I’ve added some advice here.
Baked recipes
If using cream alternatives in baked recipes the type of cream matters less but care needs to be taken when cooking it as dairy free cream can still split like dairy cream. Therefore you are free to use any of the following brands; Elmlea (single or double), Alpro (single), Food Heaven – Heavenly (Sweetened or Unsweetened), Coconut Cream (any % or coconut extract)
No Bake recipes
Usually in a no bake recipe the cream you add is part of the building block to add structure. For example whipped cream in a Victoria Sponge Gateau. For this reason you need to use a dairy free cream that has the highest fat content so a double cream (Elmlea produce double plant cream) or a Coconut Cream that has 60%+ of coconut extract.
Ice Creams
I have made my ice creams with all the dairy free creams mentioned above, single, double, high fat, low fat and all work because I always add a little dairy free butter to stabilise the structure so you can use all types of plant/soya/coconut dairy free creams.
Can I use tinned/canned fruit for my Gooseberry Fool?
As you know, the first time I create this I used fresh local gooseberries. I’ve recently update this recipe making it more delicious. As I’m aware that not everyone can get their hands on fresh gooseberries, I’ve made the one for these photos with tinned gooseberries so you can see how that version turns out. lets just ignore the vast difference in quality of photo shall we!
The point is that the fresh gooseberries retain some of their greenness and the canned gooseberries have taken on a slightly brown colour. In terms of taste the fresh need more sugar to sweeten while the tinned I added no sugar as they are tinned in syrup.
made with fresh gooseberries 
made with tinned gooseberries
Other fruits you can use for your Fruit Fool Crumble
I have another recipe on the website for Gluten Free Blackberry Crumble Fool that’s also dairy free too and I know this would work particularly well with;
- Peaches (tinned or freshly stoned with skin removed)
- Rhubarb
- Cherries (tinned or fresh with stones removed)
- Plums (no need to remove skins they’re soft enough once stewing)
- …in fact the possibilities are endless!
Please do comment below if you’ve made this recipe and used a fruit successfully that I’ve not mentioned here.
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What biscuits can I use for the gluten free crumble topping?
This recipe was a simple dessert, perfect for hot summers days or as I’m enjoying them as a delicious refreshing supper. If you can get your hands on some particularly delicious gluten free ginger biscuits with stem ginger bits in them you’ll thank me, the chewy ginger pieces are to die for in this dessert and totally compliment the stewed gooseberry.
If ginger is not your thing then you could opt for a simple digestive biscuit or shortbread biscuit. Obviously, if catering for dairy and egg free too you’ll need to check the labels (always-check-labels).
Other Gooseberry Recipes you might like to try
I have a delicious and simple Gluten Free Gooseberry Crumble that I know you will fall in love with and plan to make many more gooseberry inspired recipes soon so to make sure you don’t miss out be sure to sign up to my newsletter to get the latest recipe updates and a FREE e-book filled with 30 gluten free biscuit recipes.
If you love the art of making jams and jellies then you are in for a treat with Claire’s Gooseberry and Gin Jam over on Foodie Quine. Then there is Camilla’s Gooseberry, Apple and Mint Jelly with added video to show you step-by-step how to make it with Camilla you get two preserves with her Gooseberry & Apple Jam, in fact Camilla is queen of preserves so if jams and jellies are your thing then head over to Fab Food 4 All – after making this Gooseberry Fool that is!
For something a little different, how about these Baked Gooseberry and Elderflower Custards by Helen over at Family Friends Food. Or how about these Upside Down Gooseberry Crumble Bars by the talented Mandy at Sneaky Veg, just make sure you use gluten free oats.
Other Crumble Inspired Recipes
I love this Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble Cake and make it regularly, it doesn’t matter if rhubarb i in season because you can use tinned rhubarb or cut up rhubarb and freeze like I do. I also have recipes for
Gooseberry Fool Crumble Recipe
A deliciously light and rich summer fruit dessert using a popular summer berry that reminds me of my childhood. This can be made so easily, no fuss and both gluten free and dairy free plus vegan. This Gooseberry Fool Crumble is so creamy that you'll be forgiven for thinking its full of dairy cream despite being free from.
- 200 g gooseberries
- 1 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp sugar optional – recommended if using fresh berries
- 1/2 tsp arrowroot
- 250 ml dairy free vanilla yogurt I used alpro vanilla
- 250 ml dairy free cream I used Heavenly UHT cream on this occasion
- 80 g ginger biscuits approx. 4-5 biscuits
- 2 tbsp ground almonds optional
No need to top and tail the gooseberries wash and add them to a non stick saucepan with the water and sugar.
Heat gently for 8 mins until the gooseberries have broken down completely. if using tinned gooseberries this may take less time.
Add the arrowroot and using a whisk stir rapidly to break any lumps, after a couple of minutes on rapid boil remove the pan from the heat.
Top Tip: if you're not keen on seeds, pass the stewed gooseberries through a sieve into a jug and pop in the fridge for 30 mins to chill.
If not bothered by the seed pour stewed fruit into jug and pop in the fridge to chill.
Beat the 250ml of dairy free cream until thick and then add the dairy free yogurt and mix again to combine.
If you like you can add 2-3 tablespoons of the gooseberries at this point and fold into the whipped cream mixture.
Then take your gluten free biscuits and crush them with a rolling pin, then mix in the ground almonds.
Finally build your dessert by adding the stewed gooseberry, then the whipped yogurt and cream and finally top with ginger crumble. Return to the fridge to chill or serve immediately.
Another option is to add all the gooseberry fruit to the whipped cream and leave out the base layer of stewed fruit.
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If you can’t stand the heat, got out of the kitchen, or just don’t switch the oven on, am I right?
— Rebecca, Glutarama
This looks so tasty I would love to make some. My daughter is gluten free and me and my son are dairy free so we can all try this recipe :)
I’m so glad I’ve catered for everyone. Let me know what you think x
I love gooseberry fool and topping with crumble gives a lovely crunch to it Delicious. Thank you for sharing.
I’ll add this one to my list for next year. Sadly my new gooseberry bush only produced 5 berries – but its a start! Thanks for linking up to #CookBlogShare. Michelle
Oh dear! I did giggle at that – sorry!
Haha – your story made me chuckle! I love goosberries too… and I love how you have combined a fool and a crumble to give us all the best of both worlds :-D Eb x
This is lovely especially since I have new made anything with gooseberry before. Love the story as it reminded me of my childhood and my neighbours plum trees :) Thanks for sharing on Fiesta Friday!
I think food should evoke happy memories and childhood memories are the best
This looks the perfect light summer dessert! I love gooseberry fool but adding the ginger biscuit and almond crumble topping makes it extra-special.
Thank you Joanna, it’s definitely an extra bonus to the flavour
I didn’t like gooseberries as a child and we seemed to have them all the time.. Now I long for them and rarely see them. Would love to try this dessert and loving the glass goblet too:-)
How funny Camilla! This goblet is one of my charity shop finds x
This looks SO tasty. Must get my hands on some arrowroot and give this a try. Thanks for linking to my crumble bars.
You are more than welcome, I love your recipes.
Excellent; I’d make this again, but would DOUBLE the crumble. I also tried adding some oats, which I think worked well. Serve with vanilla ice cream :)
All sound like very good tweaks to me – you can never have too much crumble in my opinion!
YUM! Love love gooseberries, sadly all of mine were scoffed by 3 mini Peas before I could made anything but I have managed to freeze a small batch of puree… Guess what I will be eating when they are off at holiday club next week!!
This sounds glorious Rebecca, I can just imagine how well the ginger of the biscuits cuts through the sharpness of the gooseberries. Yum! As a child I was partial to gooseberries but these days I rarely seem to see any sold in our local supermarket – I’ve no idea why because they’re so tastey. Thankyou for sharing with #BakingCrumbs
Angela x
Looks delicious and so easy to make too!
I love gooseberries in any kind of recipe and remember gathering them from the hedgerows when I was child. This recipe sounds delicious and is such a great way to make the most of them!