Ingredients

• 80g/3oz plain flour
• 80g/3oz ground almonds
• 80g/3oz demerara sugar
• 80g/3oz caster sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 80g/3oz chilled unsalted butter
• diced
• 500g/1lb 2oz gooseberries
• halved
• 125g/4½oz caster sugar
• ½ lemon
• juice only
• 2 gelatine leaves
• soaked in cold water for five minutes
• 250g/9oz caster sugar
• 150ml/5fl oz rosé wine
• 4 large
• ripe nectarines
• halved
• stones removed
• 300g/10½oz gooseberries
• stalks removed
• halved
• 75g/2¾oz caster sugar
• ½ lemon
• juice and zest
• 300ml/10fl oz double cream
• 2 vanilla pods
• split lengthways
• seeds scraped out
• 50g/1¾oz icing sugar
• 8 ripe
• firm greengages
• halved
• stones removed

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 170C/320F/Gas 3. Lightly grease a baking tray.
• For the almond crumble
• place all the dry ingredients into a free-standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix briefly at medium speed
• then add the butter and mix until a crumbly dough forms.
• Crumble the dough onto the greased baking tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes
• or until golden-brown
• and then remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
• For the gooseberry jelly
• place the gooseberries
• sugar
• lemon juice and 200ml/7fl oz water in a bowl and set it over a pan of simmering water
• making sure the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Cover with a lid and leave for one hour.
• Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl
• discarding the solids.
• Measure out 400ml/14fl oz of the gooseberry juice
• pour into a pan and heat to near-boiling point. Remove from the heat.
• Squeeze out any excess water from the softened gelatine and add the gelatine to the juice. Whisk until the gelatine dissolves. Divide the mixture between eight round-bottomed glasses and leave it to cool. Place in the fridge to set.
• For the poached nectarines
• put the sugar and wine into a heavy-based pan
• add 500ml/18fl oz water and bring to the boil
• stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
• Gently drop the nectarines into the poaching syrup. Bring back to the boil over a medium heat
• then turn the heat down
• cover and cook at a bare simmer for 8-10 minutes
• until the nectarines are tender when tested with a small
• sharp knife.
• Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Lift the fruit out of the syrup and pull off the skins
• then return the fruit to the syrup and set aside
• covered
• at room temperature.
• For the gooseberry fool
• place the gooseberries in a heavy-based pan and add the sugar
• lemon juice and zest and a tablespoon of water. Cook over a medium heat for about five minutes
• until you have a moist compôte; the softened fruit should be bound in its juices
• but with no excess liquid remaining. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• Pour the cream into a large bowl and add the vanilla seeds.
• Add the icing sugar to the cream and whisk until the cream is rich and aerated
• but still retains its fluidity. Gently fold in the gooseberry compôte with a rubber spatula. The finished fool should drop easily off the spatula – it must still be creamy
• not a stiff
• set mousse.
• To serve
• cut each greengage half into three wedges. Lift the nectarines out of the syrup and chop them into 1cm/½in pieces.
• Divide the chopped nectarines equally between the glasses containing the gooseberry jelly
• and divide all but two tablespoons of the almond crumble between the glasses.
• Cover the crumble with a layer of gooseberry fool. Dress the sliced greengages in a little of the nectarine syrup
• put them on top of the fool and finish with a fine sprinkle of the remaining crumble.