A Year In Redwood

We have two gooseberry bushes in our garden…. one produces ginormous green fruit and the other produces smaller red fruit about a month later.  This year for the first time since it was planted the green fruit bush had lots of fruit.  So what to do with these enormous, quite tart gooseberries?  Then I remembered a recipe from Darina Allen’s Ballymaloe Cookery School book… and I was lucky enough that there were just enough elderflowers left on our trees to try this jam.

It is absolutely gorgeous! As you taste the jam every so often you get this marvellous burst of elderflower.  It is so nice that ‘NO’ we won’t be sharing it with anyone! Sorry!

All I can say is remember it for next year’s Elderflower season. 🙂 Or if you’re lucky enough to still have some elderflowers in your area…. go get them!

Ingredients:

• 1.3 kg green gooseberries
• 600 ml water
• 5 – 6 elderflower heads
• 1.6 kg sugar – warmed

Method:

Wash, top and tail the gooseberries.  Tie elderflowers up in muslin (I had to use a j-cloth!).  Put the fruit and flower in pot with the water.  Simmer until fruit is soft – about 30 minutes.  Contents should now be reduced by about one-third.

Remove the elderflowers and add the sugar, stirring until it has dissolved.

Boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until setting point is reached.  Pour into sterilised jars.

This quantity makes about 6 jars.