Nigel Slater’s midweek treat: gooseberry almond pudding

Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line a 24cm shallow baking dish with a piece of baking parchment.

In a small saucepan, melt 180g of butter over a moderately high heat until it froths, then watch carefully as it calms down and the butter turns to a deep golden colour and smells toasty. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Sift together 180g of icing sugar with 50g of self-raising flour into a large mixing bowl, then add 100g of ground almonds.

Beat 5 medium egg whites till foamy but not thick – they should still be quite sloppy – then fold into the flour and icing sugar together with the melted butter. 

Scoop the mixture into the lined baking dish, then scatter in 200g of gooseberries. Dust with an extra couple of tablespoons of ground almonds and bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.

Remove from the oven, dust with a little icing sugar and leave to settle for 15 minutes before eating.

• Use a mixture of redcurrants and raspberries if gooseberries evade you.
• I wholly endorse a jug of cream with this pudding, or custard if you prefer. The latter being a good way to use up the egg yolks.
• Speaking of which – leftover egg yolks are also a good excuse to make a batch of mayonnaise.

Photograph by Jonathan Lovekin