Gooseberries are often overlooked when you are thinking about summer fruits. But these little, round, refreshingly tart and soft berries deserve more attention. You can eat them fresh, use them in a compote or jam, or as a pie filling. This Mini Gooseberry Pie recipe will make you fall in love with these flavourful berries once more!
My husband and I couldn't wait for the berry season to begin and visit one of the farms in the neighbourhood, where we can pick our own fruit. We love all kinds of berries, and even though they are available to buy in the supermarkets all year round, they taste best when you pick them fresh in the summer sunshine!
Gooseberries used to be very popular in the past, but today it is not easy to find them. I was so excited to fill up my fruit basket with these green treasures and couldn’t wait to go home and bake some cute Mini Gooseberry Pies! Of course, you can make a big one, but I think the small ones are fun and ideal for a picnic with friends. If you decide to share them at all!
These Mini Gooseberry Pies are a delicious summer treat with a tangy and refreshing filling but they can easily please a sweet tooth as well.
Mini Gooseberry Pies
Prep time: 30min
Total time: 1h 20min
Servings: 6 mini pies
INGREDIENTS
For the pastry:
· 200g plain flour
· 100g butter softened
· 65g icing sugar
· 2 egg yolks
· pinch of salt
For the filling:
· 900g gooseberries
· 6 tbsp sugar (or more if the gooseberries aren’t sweet enough)
You will also need:
Six 10cm (4in) fluted tart tins or a large one (approx. 23cm/9in) if you don’t have the mini ones
METHOD 1. Sift the flour and the icing sugar together in a bowl and add the butter. Rub them together until crumbs form.
2. Add the egg yolks and a pinch of salt to the dough and combine them together. If the pastry feels too wet, add some more flour. Place it in the fridge to rest for 30 min.
3. Wash the gooseberries, top and tail them, then cut them in half. Add the gooseberries and sugar to a pot and mix them carefully on low heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, but make sure not to overcook as gooseberries are very tender and will mash up easily. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roll the pastry out to 0.5cm (0.2in) thickness on a floured surface and cut out 6 rounds, keeping some pastry for the top.
5. Line the tins with the pastry and spoon in the gooseberry filling leaving out as much liquid as possible.
6. Cut the leftover pastry into strips and lattice the top. You can do this easily by placing half of the strips horizontally and the other half vertically.
7. Place the mini pies in the oven and bake for 30-35min.
Tip: Delicious with creamy custard or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Did you try this recipe?
Let me know how it went in the comments below! Share a photo on Instagram with the tag: #madelaineskitchen