Fool Archives - All That I'm Eating

Rhubarb, Honeycomb and Hazelnut Fool

June 4, 2013 By All That I'm Eating 21 Comments

It’s that rhubarb time of year. A little later than last year but it’s finally arrived and I am exceptionally pleased as it’s one of my absolute favourite ingredients. I love the smell, texture, flavour and sourness and the fact that it can be pink, white, stripy, green, tall or stumpy. To me it’s also a sign of changing seasons; its appearance in the garden and on market stalls tells me that there’s plenty more to look forward to in the coming months.

Ingredients

You will need (for two fools):

2 sticks rhubarb
1 tsp honey (runny or set)
1 tsp water
150ml double cream
1 tbsp runny honey
Small handful chopped hazelnuts
A few pieces of honeycomb

Method

Chop the rhubarb into inch sized chunks and put into a saucepan with the tsp honey and water. Cook on a medium heat until the rhubarb is soft and most of the water has gone. You do need to make sure it’s quite thick otherwise your fool will be more like a soup. Set the rhubarb aside to cool.

Put a small dry pan over a medium heat and toast the hazelnuts, watching that they don’t catch, then set aside.

In a large bowl whip together the double cream and runny honey until firm. Fold in two thirds of the rhubarb with the hazelnuts and crush in a few bits of honeycomb. Divide the fool into glasses and top with the remaining rhubarb and a few more hazelnuts and honeycomb. read more

Blackcurrant and Pistachio Fool

August 10, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 17 Comments

I think we are very lucky to have seasons in this country. Each season brings with it an anticipation of some new food; asparagus, tomatoes, pumpkins or sprouts. The weather is something that we can all comment on and moan about. One of the wonderful things about a British summer is the berry season. I don’t count it as summer unless I have had at least one of every berry available. This year I haven’t been lucky enough to ascertain a gooseberry yet but I’m doing pretty well as far as other berries go. As each berry has its own characteristics and flavour it’s hard to choose a favourite. I suppose my favourite is whichever berry is at its ripest and best at that particular time. Blackcurrants have a wonderful flavour and most of us would probably have first had it in Ribena or Robinsons squash. That’s certainly how I remember my first taste of blackcurrant. If you don’t mind puckering your lips and straining your expression then fresh blackcurrants can be enjoyed as they are without any interference. I tend to steer clear of looking positively alarming to others and so I mellow their sourness in various ways. You will need: 1 large handful blackcurrants 1-2 tbsp caster sugar 250ml double cream 1-2tbsp icing sugar 1 small handful of pistachios, chopped

Perhaps I am odd, ‘quirky’ is probably a little more polite, but I like nothing more than pinching the dead flower and stem off of each and every blackcurrant. Even more so if I can do it outside and sit in the sunshine at the same time. Either way this laborious task needs to be undertaken in order to avoid unwanted textures in the finished fool.

When the blackcurrants are prepared put them into a pan with a sprinkling of water and the caster sugar. Cook the blackcurrants on a medium heat until they burst and release their juices then carry on cooking until most of the moisture has gone. If you leave too much moisture in then your fool will be more like a soup. Leave the blackcurrants to cool. Whip up the cream and icing sugar until you have firm peaks and then gently fold the blackcurrants in. Top the fool with a few pistachios. This would look lovely presented in a big bowl; the billowing contours just waiting to be broken with a spoon.

For a pudding that takes around 15 minutes to make (not including the topping and tailing of course) I don’t think it gets much better. The blackcurrants flavour the whole dessert and their acidity is slightly mellowed with the sugar and complemented by the cream. The pistachios add a lovely crunchy texture. I do like to leave my blackcurrants slightly acidic, because I think that’s the point of a fool, but not so acidic that I am left with a face that looks like it’s been chewing lemons all day. read more

Rhubarb and Custard with Blood Orange Sauce

January 29, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 16 Comments

Rhubarb makes a wonderful crumble and a devilishly good fool. Its astringency can cut through the most fatty of foods and its delicate colour is about the only thing around at the moment that isn’t green or brown. It’s also citrus season with Satsuma’s, tangerines and blood oranges galore. It seems a shame to eat all the members of the orange family just for their cold preventing benefits.

I was one of those children who would pick out the sourest, most mouth puckering and sharpest of sweets. Sherbert wasn’t quite tart enough for me and so rhubarb and custard sweets were my saviour when all the sour apple ones had gone. They soon became my favourite; when you were turning the sweet over in your mouth you never knew if you were going to get a burst of sour or a shot of sweet. Although I do enjoy one of these sweets occasionally I have moved on to a more grown up version.

This is the very first of the English forced rhubarb I could get my hands on. It was nestled amongst a load of potatoes, swedes and cabbages; poking its pink feet out asking to be picked up. Admittedly my first thought was crumble but on my travels I walked past a sweet shop and my thoughts turned to rhubarb and custard. read more

Blackcurrant Summer Pudding and Red Gooseberry Fool

July 21, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 11 Comments

Summer is a wonderful time for unctuous puddings. Sweet ones, sharp ones, gooey ones and normally in some shade of pink. I wish I had the willpower to buy millions of summer berries and freeze them so I can knock up a pudding anytime I fancy, but I can barely resist them enough for them to make it to the saucepan. How can you go wrong with inky blackcurrants and vibrant gooseberries? Over the weekend I had occasion to make luscious puddings with both of these fruits. First a slightly sweet, sticky blackcurrant summer pudding and then a sharp, creamy gooseberry fool. read more