Every winter I enjoy receiving nursery catalogues. Some years ago I came across a Finnish variety of gooseberry in one of the catalogues. With curiosity and an interest in all types of berries, I ordered a bush for my garden. I’ve had it now for about four years and it is producing well! It is a delight for me to taste and cook with one more berry in God’s amazing array of fruit bearing plants.
The hinnomaki red gooseberry produces a large berry. The plant has prickly stems but the berries are smooth.
Hinnomaki Gooseberry
I pick the gooseberries just as they begin to turn color from green to a reddish hue. The berries have a bright, tart flavor that is delicious in jams and pie.
Here is the recipe for pie:
Pastry:
1 + 3/4 cup flour
1/8 tsp. salt
½ cup butter
1 Tblsp. white wine vinegar
Cold water
Mix flour and salt. (I sometimes will use 1/4 cup rice flour and 1 + 1/2 cup unbleached white flour to reduce the amount of gluten and to give the pastry a softer texture.) Cut in the butter until mixture is crumbly. Add vinegar to ½ cup water. Add the water, a tablespoon at a time, to the flour mixture, mixing with a fork. You want the dough to just hold together. (If necessary add additional water a tablespoon at a time.)Roll out half of the dough and line a 9″ pie dish. The remaining dough is for the top pastry. Preheat oven to 375°.
Filling:
3 + ½ cup gooseberries
1 apple pared and shredded
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons minute tapioca
¼ cup honey
Combine the gooseberries, shredded apple, sugar and tapioca. Let stand for 15 minutes and then place in the pastry lined pie plate. Drizzle the honey over the berries. Roll out the remaining dough and cut it into strips (about ½”) and then lay strips of dough vertically on the pie. Leave the ends of the strips loose and weave horizontal strips through the vertical strips. This lattice top makes a pretty pie. Seal the ends of dough around the rim of the pie and bake at 375° for approximately 40 minutes, until pastry is golden and filling is bubbly.
Linking with Friendship Friday, From the Farm, A Little R & R, Wildcrafting Wednesday, The Homemaking Party, Titus 2sday, the Art of Homemaking, Motivation Monday and the Homestead Barn Hop