A Fool for Fruit

If you know me at all, you know I am a bit of an Anglophile. I have never actually been to England, but I love British movies, TV shows and books. I am particularly fond of British murder mysteries. My husband worries that I am watching them for planning purposes.

I also have a few British food blogs that I follow. One of my favorites is www.vikalinka.com. Vikalinka was started by Julia Frey, who is a London-based recipe developer and photographer. She has amazing recipes, photos and videos that are often tempting to me. Last summer, she posted a recipe for Blackberry Fool and I saved it to try.

Julia is lucky enough to live close to a wild blackberry field. I do not have that luxury, but we are fortunate to have an amazing state farmers market just a short drive away. The girls and I took a trip to get some of our favorite seasonal fruits, including a big quart of juicy blackberries.

Traditionally, a Fool is a layered fruit parfait made with gooseberries. Today, you can make Fool with any lovely fresh fruit or fruit compote. The recipe from Vikalinka.com is beautifully basic. She simply mashes the berries with a bit of sugar to form a chunky sauce.

The only other ingredients you need are some whipping cream, powdered sugar and some vanilla extract. It is very easy to whip up and placed in the right dessert cups, it makes a stunning summer dessert.

Mash your berries with some granulated sugar and set them aside.

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, whip your cream with 3 tbsp of powdered sugar and some vanilla extract. Whip it until you can form soft peaks. Do not over mix. You want it to be creamy. Divide the cream into 2 separate bowls.

Mix 1/3 of mashed blackberries into one half of the whipped cream and set aside.

Layer the mashed berries, the berry whipped cream and then the pure whipped cream into a glass dish or dessert cup. I have lovely vintage parfait glasses that my mom gave me and they made the dessert look marvelous.

The recipe makes 4 servings of fluffy, fruity magic. The tart blackberries are the perfect compliment to the slightly sweet whipped cream. My girls were amazed when they saw the treat and paid me the ultimate teenage compliment of photographing the Blackberry Fool for Instagram or SnapChat or wherever they posted that day.

I am dreaming of trying a Peach Fool with fresh, seasonal peaches next time.

If you would like to try this recipe yourself, you can find it here.