What Are Gooseberries? & A Homemade Gooseberry Pie Recipe (2024)

Have you ever had gooseberries (they are also known as ‘ribes’)?

Most of us in the United States have not. ‘During the late 18th and early 19th centuries there was, believe it or not, a “Gooseberry Craze” that began in England and spread to America. At its height, the time, money and passion spent on this humble berry would have made Beatlemania look like a passing fancy.’ (source)

Recently, out of fascination, I planted 2 chubby little Invicta gooseberry bushes. This year, I’m excited that after two years of drought nearly killing them, we had our first real harvest… and what a crop it was!

Now there is an old-fashioned gooseberry pie in the oven!

If I could, I would bottle up the aroma wafting around the kitchen and our house right now! We have never smelled anything quite like it~slightly floral and spicy (like cinnamon)!

Get your printable elderberry syrup recipes!

What are Gooseberries?

According to Mother Earth News,

“When you first bite into a ripe gooseberry, the tartness of the skin is balanced by the burst of sweet nectar from the flesh of the fruit.”

I think gooseberries are a little like the Sweet Tarts candies of my teens, but clean and fresh and very healthy! They have significantly high amounts of phenolic phytochemicals especiallyflavonesandanthocyanins. These compounds have been found to have numerous health-benefiting effects against cancer, aging, inflammation, and neurological diseases.

Old-Fashioned Gooseberry Pie Recipe

For many of our country grandparents and great-grandparents, gooseberry pie represents a long-ago beloved time and place. For those whose childhood was spent on a farm or countryside where rambling through the woods with the dogs and picking berries in summer was part of life, it has special memories.

My husband’s Grandma made piecrusts from lard rendered from the hog butchering, and she picked her own gooseberries and canned them. This is very much like her recipe.

Ingredients:

Filling:

4-5 cups of any color gooseberries (plus we threw in a large handful or red currants and red jostaberries for more color)
1 1/4 cup sweetener (we used 3/4 cup of our own honey)
2 teaspoons orange rind (zest)
4-5 TBSP tapioca starch, cornstarch or arrowroot powder (see how to thicken a sauce)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 TBSP butter or virgin coconut oil

Rustic Crust:

(we loved the Rustic Pear Tart crust so much we used it for this)

1 1/3 cups organic all-purpose unbleached flour or favorite healthy GF recipe
3 TBSP sugar (we used coconut sugar)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
7 TBSP cold butter, cubed (no substitutes) Grandma used lard rendered from their own hogs
2 to 3 TBSP cold water

Directions for Gooseberry Pie Filling:

Combine all filling ingredients except butter and cornstarch in a large saucepan and place over medium heat
Cover until gooseberries begin to soften and burst (about 5 minutes.)
As the berries soften, gently add the cornstarch by first making a slurry
Add slowly and keep on heat until the filling becomes translucent and has a glossy sheen (approx. 10 minutes)
Remove from heat, add 2 TBSP butter, and allow to cool while rolling out pastry

Note: I forgot to make the cornstarch ‘slurry’, *Humph!* and had to mash out the resulting lumps, so the poor gooseberries sustained a beating! I think it would be prettier if you could retain more of the appearance of berries.

Directions for the Crust:

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl
Cut in butter until crumbly
Gradually add cold water, tossing with a fork or hands and finish using hands to form a ball
Roll out to a circle and transfer to the pie pan
Crimp edges and add filling. (You may have some extra pie dough for adding stars, hearts, or even your initials)
Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until your crust is golden brown and flaky
Check crust to keep from burning

Another note: this isn’t the kind of pie that is perfectly sliceable. You might need to scoop out servings with a spoon. Even so, it’s such an enjoyable treat especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

To grow gooseberries:

Gooseberries do well in cooler climates. It’s best if they are planted in zones 3-5.

If you have room for a shrub that is about 3-4? tall and wide, you should be able to plant your own currants and gooseberries.

Gooseberries andcurrantsare not at all difficult to grow, and they tolerate a wider range of conditions than most fruit plants.Choose a location that receives some afternoon shade. Our plants were purchased at Edible Landscaping.