Gooseberry yoghurt ice cream

Looking for something refreshing? This happy and crisp combination of Gooseberry jam and invigorating yoghurt will likely do the trick!

I remember those long, ever-lasting summers during childhood with great happiness. Each day,  me and my brother  used to pass by the sturdy Gooseberry bush that grew on our lot  to check if some more of the alluring berries had become ripe enough to eat.   Gooseberries – when ripe – have a rather mellow, rounded sweet flavour quite unlike any other berry I know of .  And even if there were no ripe ones, if often happened that we tried some of the not-so-ripe ones anyway … usually leading to a lot of grimacing. Few berries can be as sour as unripe gooseberries;-).

But even in those days, I don’t remember that we ever managed to pick that many berries in one go (which could, of course, possibly be explained by the fact that we kept picking that bush each and every day …).

Since then, the years have gone by but I have kept a special place in my heart (and stomach) for gooseberries. Like many berries, gooseberries contain healthy amounts of antioxidants, minerals and – particularly – vitamin C. Sadly, however,  I have actually never been able to find any (affordable) larger quantities of them. And where I live, the berries are not even in season for the moment. Pending discovery of a golden supply source for fresh gooseberries, I decided to turn to IKEA!

Why? Because the furniture-giant’s extensive range of Swedish foodstuffs also includes  Gooseberry jam!

While I encourage everyone so inclined to make their own jams/curds/sauces, it is good to remember that there are ready-made solutions for those of us who find that time or raw ingredients are in short supply. 

Preparing this ice cream is very simple – in true Philadelphia-style tradition, all the ingredients are combined cold, whisked together and then put into the ice cream machine (or still-frozen in your freezer; go here for more instructions on how to make ice cream without an ice cream machine!)

I chose not to add any more sugar to the ice cream base than what already came with the jam, and this adds to the genuine freshness!

Obviously, this is ultimately both a matter of taste and dependent on how much sugar there is in the particular jam you indent to use.  The IKEA-jam I used was 45 % fruit, and save for some pectin and citric acid, the rest was sugar. Quite sweet, in other words. Should your jam use less sugar, it would probably be wise to add some more in order to avoid a too tart final product.

Mmm … the Gooseberry yoghurt ice cream really feels both fresh and refreshing, in the most positive senses of the words. It would be perfect for an active summer’s day! Apart from lightening up your palate, it also comes across as relatively healthy, given the low total quantity of sugar.  So – take a break from those ice creams mainly made up of cream and high amounts of sugar! Churn this recipe, and you might find that you actually have positive energy to do something active even after having had dessert:-)