Blackberry Fool

When my friend was visiting last weekend, we were marveling over the delicious berries we found at the farmer’s market that Friday.  Blueberries, red currants, strawberries, raspberries, and gooseberries – the last surprisingly sweet and juicy (we had been expecting somewhat tart berries – so delicious! 

A few days later, she texted me to ask if I had any suggestions as to what to do with some strawberries that she had on hand. Strawberry shortcake seemed ho-hum. Was there any other way to serve them?I suggested making a fruit fool with them.  She liked the idea, and tried it, to her satisfaction. 

“What is a fruit fool?” you might ask. A fruit fool, according to the second definition given in the Oxford English Dictionary (the OED, one of my favorite reference resources) is: 

A dish composed of fruit stewed, crushed, and mixed with milk, cream, or custard. Often gooseberry fool*

No one is quite sure of the origins of the term. The OED states that the first use of the term is in the late 16^th century, but beyond that, the name of this dessert is shrouded in mystery.  

Not named by Mr. T., sucka.

I think the best comment on the debate over the dishes name’s origin comes from Howard Hillman’s Great Peasant Dishes of the World, from which I take my recipe:

I’ve long wondered how the English dessert “fool” received its curious name.  I put the question to a Devonshire farmer.  “You’re the fool if you worry about things like that when all you have to do is to sit down and enjoy it,” he quipped.  He had a point. (p. 179)

In any event, with all of these delicious fresh and local berries, it was only a matter of choosing which ones to use to make my fool for this weekend.  Blackberries drew the lucky card, and so here’s my first blackberry fool, for your reading pleasure.

Other berries can be used as well, along with red currants and crab apples, though gooseberries are the traditional berry used to make a fool. 

Blackberry Fool

1 pint blackberries

2 tsp water

6 tbsp sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Wash, and if necessary, stem the blackberries.  Add the berries and water to a 2 qt. saucepan and slightly mash the berries with a wooden spoon.  Cover the pan and cook the berries and water over low heat for five minutes.  Remove the cover and stir in the sugar. Cover again and cook for an additional fifteen minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.  Do not overcrush, overcook, or sieve the berries.  After fifteen minutes, remove the berries from the heat and let cool.  When cool, refrigerate for at least two hours.  

Close to serving time, whip the cream in a chilled bowl until it reaches the stiff-peak stage.  Fold the fruit mixture into the whipped cream, but do not overfold the mixture. You want some texture to the berries for contrast. Spoon the fool into individual chilled glasses or bowls.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to two hours until ready to serve.

*Etymology: fool, n.2, Second edition, 1989; online version June 2012. <http://www.oed.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/view/Entry/72643>; accessed 06 July 2012. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1897.

Adapted from Howard Hillman, Great Peasant Dishes of the World (1983), Houghton Mifflin.