Gooseberry Custard Friands

Gooseberry season is far too short. I get completely over-excited when I first spot them at the farmers’ market and end up buying punnets and punnets which languish in my freezer whilst I decide which hallowed recipe gets the go-ahead with this year’s haul. I am so indecisive that often in the middle of October I may find a stray punnet in the depths of the deep freeze that I forgot about whilst I was dithering. A happy day indeed.

Since gooseberries are so tart, especially these early ones, they really need to be paired with something sweet in order to make them shine. This is why they are so perfect in jam and my Gooseberry Thyme Jam will convert anybody who claims jam is too sweet. Gooseberries always add a more sophisticated tang to recipes.

I didn’t use that jam for these Gooseberry Custard Friands but instead whipped up a quick easy jam by heating equal amounts of water and caster sugar until the sugar dissolves and then adding in the gooseberries to simmer until they burst. The fruit will thicken in about five minutes and give you a wonderful jam that will keep for about a week or so in your fridge.

The custard used to top the friand may test you a little but it’s a very safe to make custard if you fear of splitting since the cornflour mixed into the eggs at the beginning of the process helps to stabilise the recipe. It’s pretty foolproof and takes no more than about 5-6 minutes to knock up in case you think it sounds intimidating.

These little bites of cake are absolutely delicious and I guarantee if you serve these friands out among friends and family they will simply fly off the plate. They are simply irresistible and the perfect recipe to make the most of your limited supply of gooseberries.

Ingredients Needed

Gooseberries. You can use fresh or frozen tart green gooseberries but I recommend topping and tailing. If you are doing this with frozen berries then you can do it with the frozen berries, rather than waiting for them to thaw – otherwise it gets a bit squidgy.

Caster sugar. It’s a fine white baking sugar available in the UK. Regular white granulated sugar can be substituted.

Whole milk. For the custard. Use whole milk or a plant based milk if you are making dairy-free.

Vanilla extract. You don’t need to use the best quality vanilla extract here as there's already a lot going on with the flavours and it won't make a difference. A supermarket brand is just fine.

Cornflour. It's needed to help stabilise the custard. Here's my guide for the difference between cornflour and cornstarch.

Icing sugar (powdered sugar). This is the soft sugar needed for an ultra tender crumb for the friand sponges.

Almond flour. You are looking for blanched ground almonds. There is a bit of labelling confusion over almond flour which is sold as ‘ground almonds’ in most major UK supermarkets and found in the baking aisle. If you want to know what exactly you are looking for then check out this post >>>Is Almond Flour The Same As Ground Almonds.

Gluten-Free Flour. You can just use your favourite brand or my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Blend. Alternative you can also use all-purpose plain flour if you don't need these friands to be gluten-free.

Unsalted butter. We need unsalted butter so we can control the salt content of the recipe. You can make this recipe dairy-free by using olive oil instead (but you need to reduce the amount to 160g olive oil).

Eggs. This recipe uses 180g of egg whites (which is about six) for the friands but also two eggs yolks for the custard. The four remaining egg yolks you can use to make homemade ice cream.

How to Make Gooseberry Friands

For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.

Gooseberry Jam

1. Dissolve the caster sugar in the water over a gentle heat.
2. Add the gooseberries and cook until they burst.
3. Stir and cook for a further five minutes then leave to cool.

Custard

1. Heat the milk and vanilla until just below boiling.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until pale and thick.
3. Gradually whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture.
4. Return to the pan and cook, whisking continuously, until thick and smooth.
5. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Friands

1. Mix the almond flour, gluten-free flour, icing sugar and salt.
2. Stir in the melted butter.
3. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, then fold into the batter.
4. Divide the batter between the tin, then top each with custard and the gooseberry jam.
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

More Gooseberry Recipes You'll Love

This Gooseberry Jam with Thyme is wonderfully tart with earthy floral notes from the thyme. Of course it’s delicious on toast, crumpets and scones but don’t dismiss its excellence nestling happily on a cheese board.

This Gooseberry Chutney is a traditional-style British chutney which balances sweetness and warming spices. It’s a perfect pairing with cheese, pork pies, cold meat, sandwiches and your ploughman’s lunch.

This Strawberry Gooseberry Crumble is a marriage of the best of this year’s sweet and tangy berries under a generous, crisp and slightly chewy crumble topping made with buckwheat flour and almond flour.