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Gooseberry cake

Name: Gooseberry cake
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Ingredients: gooseberries 300g, fresh or frozen, topped and tailed; caster sugar 325g; plain flour 200g; baking powder 2 tsp; ground almonds 100g; elderflower cordial 4 tbsp; natural yogurt 100ml, plus extra to serve; eggs 4; vanilla extract 1 tsp; olive oil 150ml; greek yogurt or crème fraîche to serve; caster sugar 50g; elderflower cordial 3 tbsp

1 hour 45 minutes + cooling
serves 10
Easy

Make the most of British summer berries in this fruity gooseberry cake, lifted with a sweet elderflower drizzle

By Adam Bush

Published: June 15, 2019 at 10:36 am

Ingredients

gooseberries 300g, fresh or frozen, topped and tailed
caster sugar 325g
plain flour 200g
baking powder 2 tsp
ground almonds 100g
elderflower cordial 4 tbsp
natural yogurt 100ml, plus extra to serve
eggs 4
vanilla extract 1 tsp
olive oil 150ml
greek yogurt or crème fraîche to serve

ELDERFLOWER SYRUP

caster sugar 50g
elderflower cordial 3 tbsp

Method

Step 1

To make the elderflower syrup, put the sugar and 75ml water in a pan. Slowly bring to the boil then simmer for 5 minutes until thickened slightly. Stir in the cordial and cool.
Step 2

Toss the gooseberries with 50g of the caster sugar and leave to sit while you make the cake.
Step 3

Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line the base and sides of a deep 23cm springform cake tin with baking paper. Mix together the flour, baking powder, ground almonds and a pinch of salt in a bowl.
Step 4

In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the caster sugar, elderflower cordial, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually whisk in the dry ingredients to form a smooth batter. Fold in the olive oil.
Step 5

Scrape the batter into the prepared tin then spoon the sugary gooseberries all over the top, pressing gently to submerge. Bake for 1 hour (covering with foil after 40 minutes to avoid it getting too dark) until golden and risen, and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Skewer the cake all over while still warm and spoon over 5 tbsp of the elderflower syrup. Cool in the tin until just warm then serve with greek yogurt or crème fraîche and the rest of the syrup.