F&F member Claire Sutton makes a fool of herself.
If you have too much fruit but have no time for jam making…How about making a fool?
As I am sure you know, it is often the case that the fruit all seems to come at once so it is great to have a catch all recipe that you can put anything in so you can enjoy it whilst it is at its best.
Why I have never made a fool before I don’t know.
Light, tangy, sweet, fruity, creamy, easy, beautiful.
Fool is as pleasureable to make as it is to eat. When you stir the fruit into the cream there it makes a delightful soft ‘splop’ noise and a swirl of colours that’s just gorgeous.
I am working out how to maximise my intake of homemade fool for the duration of the summer.
First I made a light green gooseberry fool, with gooseberries donated by a kindly neighbour. Then, with the 2nd half of the large pot of cream I made a ‘summer fruit fool’ with raspberries, tayberries, loganberries and red-currants from the garden. It really can be as simple as squashing up the fruit, sweetening it and stirring it into lightly whipped cream.
I went just a little further to make these super dreamy.
Gooseberry Fool
To a bowl of topped and tailed gooseberries add 1/3 of their weight in sugar and a split vanilla pod. Bake in a warm oven in a covered casserole dish for around 1/2 an hour until the berries soften and start to burst. Allow to completely cool then refrigerate. BTW – this version would work brilliantly for rhubarb too, I just turned my rhubarb into crumble though.
Liquidize the syrupy green goo with a stick blender and add some icing sugar to sweeten if they are still too tangy.
Sieve out the pips and stir into the lightly whipped cream then allow to set in the fridge a little before serving.
Summer Fruit Fool
Gather as many lovely red berries as you can and liquidize with a blender. Sieve out the pips then add icing sugar to sweeten. Stir into a bowl of lightly whipped cream. Don’t stir too well…leave a few swirls of colour. Spoon into a glass or bowl.
Quantities are quite vague and ‘to taste’ but a large 600ml pot of cream made two generous bowls of fool once added to the large punnet of gooseberries and a bowl of red fruits.
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