Rhubarb Fool Recipe

Spring, it seems, is finally here. My tomato plants are now shooting up at a rate of knots, ants have invaded the kitchen, and (best of all), rhubarb arrived in this weeks organic vegetable box.

Rhubarb Fool

I love this time of year. Sure, there are still the cold days (just this morning the front lawn was covered in frost) but there are also little hints of summer shining through; the odd day which appears unexpectedly with temperatures high enough walk around in just a t-shirt. In fact, I’m sure I could smell some of the neighbours cooking their first barbecue of the year this weekend.

A “fool” is a great and traditional way of showcasing in season fruit. You can try and be fancy (I’ve tried many different recipes before) but I’ve yet to find anything which beats the simplicity of stewed fruit folded into whipped cream. Confusingly, rhubarb is actually a vegetable, but that doesn’t stop it being right at the top of my list of seasonal foods, and my favourite for deserts such as this. Give it a go with gooseberries or raspberries too – it works just as well.

Rhubarb Fool Recipe – Ingredients

• 4 Large Sticks of Rhubarb
• 50g (1.75 oz) Caster Sugar
• 200ml (6.75 fl. oz) Double Cream
• Couple of drop of Vanilla Essence

Rhubarb Fool Recipe – Ingredients

1. Chop up the rhubarb and place in a saucepan with 1tbsp water and the sugar.
2. Turn on the heat and stir around a bit; it’ll start out quite dry (keep stirring it for now to prevent the sugar catching on the pan) but will moisten up as the juice is released from the rhubarb.
3. Boil until the rhubarb is soft. This will take 10 minutes or so.
4. Whip the double cream with the vanilla until it forms soft peaks. When this stage is reached pour in the rhubarb and fold in until loosely combined. Don’t worry about getting it fully mixed in, it looks much better when it’s not.
5. Empty into wine glasses and allow to chill for an hour or so before serving.