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.
