Don’t you love when you find those desserts that are just so simple? Easy peasy…simple as 1, 2, 3. Well, rest assured, this rhubarb fool is one of those desserts. For those of us who are slightly less adept at knowing all the culinary terms, a “fool” is an classic English dessert traditionally made by folding cooked pureed fruit into sweet custard. Modern versions of the dessert often use whipped cream.
Okay, I think it’s time to address the pink elephant in the room. Why the heck is it called a fool? Well, we look to the French for this explanation. The word comes from the French word “fouler” which means to crush or press. It’s a perfect reference to the fruit used in this dessert.
So the rhubarb fool is just one variation of the dessert. Did you know that there is a type of gooseberry called “careless,” which means there is a dessert called the “careless fool.” (Shout-out to the the Lovefood blog for that cool tidbit.)
You can use most any fruit when preparing a fool. Rhubarb, of course, is a vegetable, but it is commonly used in recipes with fruit, especially strawberries because it brings balance to the sweetness. Check out Taste of Home’s Rhubarb fool with strawberries recipe, if you’d like to try the strawberry/rhubarb combination. However, for a straight rhubarb fool recipe, see the ingredients below.
Rhubarb Fool Ingredients
4 oz rhubarb 115g
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp orange juice
¼ cup heavy cream 60ml
2 tbsp Greek yogurt plain – full fat or low fat as you prefer
For the recipe instructions for this rhubarb fool, go to Caroline’s Cooking.
Multi Cultural Cooking Network 