Fruity Fools with a Hidden Surprise

These can be made and eaten straight away or popped in the refrigerator and enjoyed within a couple of days. My mum used to make a similar dessert to this and hide a surprise in the bottom – chocolate buttons, pieces of fruit or little sweets. I now realize that she successfully used this as a way of encouraging me to eat up. Clever Mum!

MAKES 2 adult or 4 kid-sized portions

PREPARATION TIME 10 minutes for soft fruits or 15 minutes, plus cooling, for hard fruits

80ml/2½fl oz/1/3 cup double/heavy or whipping cream

80ml/2½fl oz/11/3 cup shop-bought or Foolproof Home-made Custard (see page 128) or Greek yogurt

125ml/4½fl oz/½ cup fruit purée (see method) or shop-bought fruit compôtes or pie fillings

FOR THE FRUIT PURÉE

250g/9oz/12/3 cups hard fruits, such as chopped rhubarb or peeled, cored and chopped apples or pears

or 250g/9oz/12/3 cups fresh or frozen soft fruits, such as berries, frozen smoothie mixes, pitted and peeled mango or pitted cherries, defrosted if frozen

sugar, to taste

FOR THE SURPRISE

a few chocolate buttons, candy sweets or pieces of fresh or dried fruit (optional)

 

1 To make a fruit purée, prepare your chosen fruit as necessary. If you are using hard fruits, they will need cooking. Put them in a pan over a medium heat with 2 tbsp water, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid and leave to simmer until the fruit has softened. Add sugar to taste and briskly stir or whizz in a blender until smooth. Leave to cool. If using soft fruits, put the fruit into a blender and whizz until smooth. Taste and add sugar if needed.

2 To make the fools, whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. Fold in the custard and the fruit purée, either until totally combined or creating a marbled effect.

3 Put a little surprise at the bottom of individual glasses or bowls, if you like, and spoon in the fool over the top. Either chill in the refrigerator or eat straight away.

leftovers for iced treats

frozen fools and fool ice cream

Rather than eating straight away as a dessert, the fool mixture can be transformed into two very handy treats.

To make Frozen Fools, spoon the fool into moulds and pop in the freezer. The lollies/popsicles will last for a couple of months and are great for emergencies or hot sunny days.

If you have an ice cream machine, the fool mix can be churned to create a lovely, creamy, fruity Fool Ice Cream. Store in an old ice cream container or a plastic box with a lid and it will be waiting for you in the freezer to tuck into and enjoy whenever the sun shines.