Don’t get me wrong ! I am not talking about a person here:) The “fool” in question is an English dessert typically made of fruit and lots of cream or custard. Its a fruit fool and is an absolutely yummy yet simple dessert.
The origins of this dessert are ambiguous. Some say that this dessert derives its name from the French verb fouler which means crushed and that is because it uses fruit puree. Others say that it is derived from the Arabic word ful or foul as in ful medammes which is a dish made from cooked and mashed beans. So basically any fresh or dried pureed fruit is the key to a good fool.
There are a variety of recipes to making a fruit fool. Essentially all the fool recipes have pureed fruit mixed or layered with something creamy which could be either be a custard or whipped cream or greek yogurt or cream cheese or even ice cream sometimes.
When I went shopping for groceries the other day, I spotted these gorgeous apricots. Normally, fresh apricots are not that easily available in Pune. It reminded me of the apricot orchards that we had visited on our trip to Ladakh where we had plucked them right off the tree and devoured them. These apricots inspired me to create this simple dessert called Apricot fool. Here is the recipe :
Ingredients :
- Fresh Apricots – 300 g
- Sugar – 100 g
- Water – 25 ml
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Cream Cheese – 150 g
- Whipping cream – 1/2 cup
- Mint for Garnish
Method
- Halve and deseed washed apricots. To a sauce pan, add water and sugar together along with zest and juice of lemon. Add the halved apricots and bring to boil. Cook till the apricots soften. Let them cool in the sugar syrup. Puree the apricots leaving 5-6 pieces aside for garnish.
- Beat the whipping cream till almost double in volume.
- Beat the cream cheese till lump free and mix in half the apricot puree and the whipped cream.
- Take a tall parfait glass or a wine glass. Pipe in a layer of the above mixture followed by a layer of the apricot puree and then another layer of the cream cheese mixture. Garnish with the whole apricots and a sprig of mint. Cool before serving.
This is a very simple yet delicious dessert. You could use any seasonal fruit like strawberry or black currants to make this fruit fool. Sugar in the recipe needs to be adjusted according to the tartness of the fruit. While the apricots are in season go ahead and make a fool for your self 🙂
