Gooseberry Coffee Cake

Gooseberry Coffee Cake

It’s been a while.

This blog and uncanny itself are never far from my mind and I continue to be inspired by the beautiful, local and seasonal dishes that show up on various news feeds. I want to immediately react, I want to try them and I want them to inspire in me a new spinoff recipe. It has been a humbling experience to watch as elements of your life that you have passion for slowly recede and make way for more pressing concerns, like two small children and two more on the way. I lumber and huff and waddle my way through the day and I count my blessings when it reaches 7 p.m. and I can collapse on the couch and not move an inch.

Sometimes though, you can find a way to combine function with creativity. Over the summer, I diligently froze strawberries, black currants, raspberries, rhubarb and gooseberries with the helpful advice from Hitchhiking to Heaven served us well throughout the winter, but there is still more that needs used up. I work hard at preparing freezer meals for when the twins arrive and life gets chaotic, but when my freezer is already stuffed with fruit, it’s time to take action.

This recipe is simple and completely not my own. It’s a recipe that is handed down and floating around everywhere and I’m not sure who to credit. My recipe is from my mother in law and is called Lunar Rhubarb Cake. Actually out of rhubarb, gooseberries are a wonderful replacement since they maintain that tart/sweet balance and it’s easy to use frozen fruit and easy enough an almost 4-year old can help!

My Sous Chef

Gooseberry Coffee Cake

Unknown credit, but here’s a great recipe from Canadian Living .

1/2 cup softened butter

1 1/2  cups sugar (I used 1 cup)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour (I used a GF blend)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter milk

2 cups fresh or frozen gooseberries (tips and tails snipped)

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup softened butter

1. Grease a 9×13 pan and preheat oven to 350.

2. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.

3. Combining your dry ingredients. Stir in your dry ingredients into your creamed sugar/butter mixture, alternating with the butter milk until combined.

4. Fold in your frozen gooseberries and pour into the pan and bake.

5. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and butter until crumbly and dollop over the top of the cake. Bake for 45 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

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