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Strawberry Gooseberry Crumble is a marriage of the best of this year’s sweet and tangy berries under a crisp and slightly chewy crumble topping.
Gooseberry season is pretty much over but I am hoping you hoarded as many as I did during their too short lifespan this year and stashed them in the freezer to make this crumble.
I feel like I have been eating Strawberry Gooseberry Crumble all summer and I have to tell you I am not getting bored of it. The combination of sweet juicy strawberries with their tangy gooseberry brethren is so perfect that this is the pudding that I have been serving up warm with ice cream most Sunday evenings after our roast dinner. Luckily there is always some left for Mondays and Tuesdays but it would be a sin to warm it back up as there is even more joy to be had when the crumble is cold.
I came up with the recipe last year and meant to post about it then but time got away with me and so it was first on my hitlist this summer. However, the gluten-free crumble topping has proved a little elusive. The main reason being that I wanted to shy away from using rolled oats which is how I’ve been making my crumbles lately. But this time I wanted something more authentic to the crumbles we used to enjoy when I was a child.
I cracked the code though. A crispness on top with a slight chew thanks to the sweet rice flour and the use of brown sugar with the roughly chopped almonds giving a pleasant crunch. The crumble topping is generous, there is much more crumble than fruit but again, that was always the way when we were younger.
I macerate the gooseberries and strawberries for a few hours in sugar which preserves the shape of the fruit during the bake so they don’t fall into a mushy slump. Then I mix the fruit with a bit of cinnamon and ginger and a couple of tablespoons of tapioca pearls which absorbs the excess fruity liquid at the bottom of the crumble and forms an almost jelly. This jelly is the crown jewel of the crumble and I defy you not to drag your spoon at the bottom of the dish seeking out more whilst the crumble is cooling and you have already had your fill.
If you have fallen short of gooseberries this year then you don’t have to wait until next year as wild blackberries would make an ideal replacement. They have the same tartness which would pair very well with the last of the season’s strawberries.
Shop The Recipe - There are not a lot of kitchen gadgets that I think are worth the space in the kitchen but I do so love my strawberry huller. It is cute and takes the stem off my strawberries with barely any strawberry waste.
More Summer Dessert recipes you'll love!
- Apple Blackberry Crumble
- Plum Nectarine Cornbread Cobbler
- Blackberry Lemon Pudding
- Raspberry Pudding
- Gluten-Free Fresh Strawberry Cake
I urge you to give this Strawberry Gooseberry Crumble a try. If you do then please leave a comment below and give the recipe a rating which helps others find the recipe on Google. If you then go on to use this recipe as a launch pad for your own culinary creation then I’d also love it if you’d share it and tag me on Instagram. It is so lovely for me to see your versions and variations of my recipes.
Strawberry Gooseberry Crumble {gluten-free}
Ingredients
- 400 g strawberries
- 300 g gooseberries
- 50 g caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons tapioca pearls
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Crumble Topping
- 80 g sweet rice flour
- 60 g gluten-free oat flour
- 25 g tapioca flour
- 80 g almonds - roughly chopped
- 150 g light brown sugar
- 125 g unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Hull the strawberries and top and tail the gooseberries then tip into a large bowl and toss with the caster sugar.
- Cover the bowl with cling film and leave for at least 4 hours to macerate (overnight is okay).
- Pre-heat the oven to 170°C.
- Pour the fruit and the juice into the bottom of a baking dish and stir in the tapioca pearls.
- Sprinkle the ginger, cinnamon and vanilla extract over the fruit and stir in.
- In a separate bowl mix the flours, almonds and sugars together then rub in the butter until it starts to clump together. I used the paddle attachment of a food processor for ease in this step but don’t take the crumble too far or it will be too sandy.
- Cover the fruit with the crumble topping then place in the oven for 35-40 minutes until the top of the crumble is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up from within.
Hello Georgina, I made your this this weeken, my son had asked for crumble for his birthday pudding and although he isn't eating gluten free I am! I made a few changes to fit what we wanted, the fruit part was apple and blueberry and my son had asked for oats in the topping so I subbed the almonds with oats. It was absolutely delicious! I have friends coming to lunch on Wednesday and will make it again for them. Thank you.
Hi Janet, thank you so much for your feedback. I love to hear how readers have adapted the recipes and made them their own - blueberry and apple sounds a killer combo. And I'm happy the recipe was so successful for you!