From Scratch

This is one fool I’ll suffer gladly and it doesn’t have to be a raspberry fool. Strawberry fool, blackberry fool, blueberry fool are all welcome. Even red currant fool, which is why I learned to make this in the first place.

This dessert is a cousin to the trifle and goes back hundreds of years. In its simplest form, it’s just mashed or pureed berries and whipped cream, sweetened if you wish. I’ve added two ingredients and both are optional. I make a more complex version with cranberries, but fools say summer to me.

A fictional summer made me crave red currant fool; it features in EF Benson’s Mapp and Lucia, one of my favorite books and one in the Lucia series that’s set almost entirely during a blissful between-the-Wars English summer. One day — this was years ago in Manhattan — I spotted red currants at the market. As luck would have it, I’d been invited to an English-born friend’s house the following day so I bought the currants.

When I asked him how to make a fool he said, “Add whipping cream and beat like hell.” That’s not too far from the truth, although his wife was kind enough to explain how she makes it. That’s how I make it too.

Since fools existed long before appliances, you don’t need any fancy equipment although a mini-chop, processor or blender makes fast work of the pureeing. A whisk is all you need to whip the cream but a hand mixer’s fine too. I think of this as a casual dessert and rarely strain out the seeds, although I do drain the puree to remove extra liquid. For a more refined fool, do get rid of the seeds.

The toppings you see are my optional additons. I keep aside some whipped cream for a contrasting dollop on the top and like crushed — but not too finely — cookies on top for both contrast and texture. Vanilla wafers, gingersnaps and shortbread all work well.

Ella’s Raspberry Fool

1 pint raspberries (or other berries)
3/4 cup/5.25 ounces granulated or superfine (castor) sugar, divided*
1 1/2 cups/12 ounces heavy cream
Options:
1 TB light rum or 1 tsp almond extract
6 small cookies, crushed

*use less sugar if berries are very sweet

In a processor or blender, puree the berries — and optional rum or flavoring — until smooth. Strain out seeds, if desired. Transfer to a strainer regardless and let the puree drain while you whip the cream.

In a cold bowl with a whisk or beater, beat the cream for about one minute, until beginning to thicken. Add the remaining sugar and whip to the firm peak stage. Reserve a few tablespoons for topping, if desired.

Fold the puree into the whipped cream, leaving some streaks and visible white. Transfer to dessert dishes [I like to use wineglasses ~ ella] and top with whipped cream and crushed cookies, if using.

Serves 4

Ella’s note: For more about the Lucia books, with links to public-domain audio and print versions of the first one, follow the link below. It’s a good recipe too.

Related on From Scratch: Lucia and Georgie Chicken

Just for chuckles: After I wrote this, I noticed a video for making fools in the subscriber-only section of Cook’s Illustrated. My jaw dropped as I saw half the stuff in the kitchen being used. The list of equipment is too long to post here — really — but I wrote them down in a little text file. If you’d like to see how to make a simple recipe complicated, click here. It’ll open in a new window.

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Tags: desserts, easy, quick, raspberries