Gooseberry & Elderflower Semifreddo
Imagine a compote of stewed gooseberries, sweetened with sugar and flavoured with a vanilla pod, accompanied by a scoop of home made ice cream. For some, it is the essence of a British summer, to be scoffed with relish as soon as possible. For others gooseberries are sour hell. This semifredddo is a gentle version of this tart little fruit and well worth the small effort it takes to make it. A couple of leaves of the herb sweet cicily added to the pan of gooseberries has the effect of reducing the tartness of the fruit. But flavours should be very intense for once the semifreddo is frozen it will loose some of its sweetness and some of its sharpness.
Preheat the oven to 190°C and toast the almonds on a tray for 10 minutes. Shake halfway through, then roughly chop. Meanwhile put the gooseberries in a pan with half the sugar and 2 tbsp water. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are soft but still whole. Stir in the cordial. Purée half the mixture, leave to cool and set aside the remaining gooseberries. Take 3 bowls. In one whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar. In the second whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. In the third, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Combine puree and egg yolk mixture. Fold in cream, then fold in egg whites and finally the nuts. Pour into a chilled dish, cover with cling film and freeze for at least 4 hours. Remove from the freezer, spoon over the remaining gooseberries and leave to soften a bit before serving.
Theo Hodges
Theo Hodges was born in Kent. After a degree in Graphic Design she joined J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency as an Art Director working on accounts such as Rowntrees, Kraft and The Butter Council. While she was at University in Perugia, Italy she started collecting recipes from friends and family. In 1980 she set up her own design agency: Theo Hodges Design Consultants. For many years when they were young Theo, her sister and six cousins used to spend vacations at her Grandmother’s Victorian vicarage in Kent. ‘The thing about remembering childhood’ she says, is ‘there’s a whole lot of oblivion, and then out of it something floats up, quite sharp and clear. Many of the meals I can still see vividly and various recipes of mine were originally from Granny’s kitchen. ‘The kitchen garden was stuffed with raspberries, huge red dessert gooseberries, strawberries, runner beans, peas and much more with the hens in a shed at the back. But Granny only ate chicken breast and runner beans, followed by raspberries and Jersey cream - and therefore so did we. When raspberries were out of season, and in those days the season was much shorter, Granny made Victoria sponge cakes sandwiched with cream and home-made raspberry jam. On this limited but delicious diet we all thrived’. Theo’s mother was an excellent cook as well, and had been taught by the house- keeper at their house in Mougins, South of France. And once rationing was withdrawn in England in 1952 and good, fresh ingredients became available again, she amassed an enormous number of recipes which has formed the basis for Theo’s collection of family desserts.