Nigel Slater’s recipe for gooseberry, elderflower and ginger crisp

If gooseberries prove elusive, or you miss the short season, you can use a mixture of blackberries and blueberries or use the crumb topping with stewed apple to make an apple crisp. Serve warm, with a jug of cream. It is also good eaten cold, when the crust has become soft and chewy and the gooseberries’ juices – sweet and chilled – have formed a pool in the dish. 

Serves 4. Ready in 1 hour

gooseberries 450g

caster sugar 2 tbsp

ground ginger 1 tsp

elderflower cordial 2 tbsp

butter 25g

For the crisp:

butter 75g

golden syrup or agave syrup 2 tbsp

soft, white bread 125g

light soft brown sugar 100g

Remove the brown flowers and stems from the gooseberries. Put the berries in a bowl, sprinkle over the caster sugar, ground ginger and elderflower cordial. Dot small pieces of butter among the gooseberries.

To make the crisp, melt the butter in a saucepan, then pour in the golden or agave syrup. Reduce the bread to coarse crumbs in a food processor, then mix them with the soft brown sugar and scatter over the fruit. 

Pour the warm syrup and butter mixture over the crumbs, making certain to soak them all.  Bake for 35 minutes till the fruit is soft and bubbling and the crumb crust golden and crisp.