Recipe: Gooseberry Fool

Larousse Gastronomique, the French cookery encyclopaedia, defines a ‘fool’ as ‘a chilled dessert of English origin, made of fruit purée strained through a fine sieve, sweetened and chilled (but not frozen). Just before serving, the purée is mixed with twice its volume of whipped cream’.

And that is all it has to say about what I believe is one of the great English puddings. (Some of the French desserts have several pages and photographs). Let Fool be an unsung hero no more! Although I can’t do this on my own, I can share a recipe and let you try it for yourselves. And of course, I’ve named the site after it!

Even the two sentences allotted to it in Larousse are not entirely correct in my opinion. Firstly, I see no reason why the fruit has to be strained through a sieve – I think the interplay of textures is quite lovely. Secondly, it can be made with custard instead of cream, or perhaps a mix of both.

Technically you can make Fool with any fruit but I like it best with slightly tart fruits, such as gooseberries (of course), rhubarb or red or black curants.

Gooseberry Fool

(Serves 4)

Gooseberries are a quintessentially English fruit, in season for just three or four weeks in the early summer. The plump, pale green berries are best cooked simply with a little sugar. The slight tartness of the cooked fruit is lovely cut with cream (or custard if you prefer) for a summer treat.

Ingredients

2 punnets gooseberries
4-6 tablespoons white sugar
300ml (1/2 pint) double cream
Ginger snaps or almond biscotti (optional)

Method

Top and tail the gooseberries with thumb and forefinger, discarding any brown ones. Rinse thoroughly and put in a good size pot with a dash hot water. Add three tablespoons of sugar and stir.

Cover the pot and cook on a gentle heat until the berries start to bubble. Remove the lid and turn up the heat to reduce the liquid until the mix is thick and gloopy. Remove from the heat, taste and add sugar until you are happy with the balance of sweet and tart flavours. (You may not use all the sugar). Refrigerate.

Whip the cream until soft folds form but not stiff peaks. When the gooseberries are cool, fold gently into the cream. Serve with a crisp biscuit – ginger snaps or almond biscotti would be perfect.