Strawberry Fool (Serves 4 people)
Deb
A traditional fool is made from fresh or stewed soft fruit (eg. berries, poached stone fruit or stewed rhubarb or gooseberries) folded into whipped cream. This version also adds a thick Greek or European style yoghurt.
- 250ml (1 cup) cream
- 250ml (1 cup) plain, unsweetened yoghurt (preferably thick, like Cyclops)
- 200g strawberries
- natural sweetener of your choice, to taste
- grated chocolate (optional)
Beat the cream till thick (if your cream is raw, see here for hints). Add stevia & glycerine, and whisk again. Stir through the yoghurt. Whizz up the strawberries in a food processor (or just chop them finely), then stir through. Chill for about ½ an hour, then serve topped with grated chocolate
Some variations (experiment to find your own favourite):
Suitable sweeteners include coconut sugar or nectar, rapadura, palm sugar, maple syrup or honey. Each will give a slightly different flavour.
Strawberries can be replaced with most other fruits:
- Other berries (which might be better whole)
- Finely chopped fresh fruit such as apricot, peach, mango or pineapple
- Stewed fruit such as apples, gooseberries or rhubarb (some will require extra sweetener)
- Mashed banana
- A mixture of fruits
- Try 200g mashed orange kumera, add 1 tsp mixed spice, and reduce the cream to ½ a cup
Other variations:
- Try a Tbs of liquer, some spices or a natural essence instead of (or as well as) a sweetener.
- Add some chopped crispy nuts
- For an evener richer dessert, use all whipped cream, or cream plus cultured cream whipped together.
- Replace the cream with coconut cream. Chill it well before whipping, and whip in a food processor as it takes longer. If you have it, add 1 tsp agar powder while whipping.
- If you’re totally dairy intolerant, use just whipped coconut cream and no yoghurt, tropical fruit like pineapple or mango, and add some desiccated coconut or creamed coconut.