Gooseberry crumble recipe

This gooseberry crumble from Phil Vickery uses six ingredients and only has three steps in the method.

Underneath this crumble topping is a mixture of plump, tart gooseberries which have been cooked in a little sugar. Gooseberries are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, Potassium, and Magnesium. They have a sour taste when raw but taste delicious baked in this recipe. Chef Phil Vickery recommends serving with clotted cream but you can use custard or ice cream if you prefer. 

Ingredients

• 875g English gooseberries, topped and tailed
• 100–175g unrefined granulated sugar

For the crumble:

• 100g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• A pinch of salt
• 200g plain white flour
• 100g caster sugar
• Clotted cream, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190C (170C, Gas 5). Put the gooseberries in a stainless-steel saucepan, add the granulated sugar and heat until the fruit starts to burst. This should only take a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and then tip into a 23 cm (9-inch) ovenproof baking dish; the gooseberries should almost be in a single layer on the bottom of the dish.
2. Put the cold butter, salt and flour together in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and pulse again just to bring together – do not overwork (this ensures that the mixture does not ‘cake up’, leaving the crumble nice and loose).
3. Spread the crumble evenly over the cooked gooseberries and bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly (the secret with crumble is to eat it warm, not hot) and serve with clotted cream, if you like.

Top tips for making a gooseberry crumble

If you’d like to add more flavour to your crumble, consider adding a handful of crushed nuts to the topping. We love almonds, pistachios or hazelnuts but you can choose your favourite.

For this recipe Phil recommends a 23cm oven-proof dish. We recommend choosing one that will look nice if you bring it to the table. 

Muldale Ceramic Pie Dish 23cm - View at Amazon

Once you’ve used this dish to make your crumble you can use it to make sweet or savoury pies. It is dishwasher safe and comes in three different colours.  

For an all-year round crowd pleaser you can’t beat our apple crumble recipe. If you'd like another celeb recipe, try the Hairy Bikers apple and blackberry crumble. You might also like our crumble cake.