I am a huge fan of this book! The premise, the history, the illustrations--all revolving around the oldest dessert in Western civilization. This dessert is called Blackberry Fool, made from fresh berries and cream. The book describes families from four generation (1710 in Lyme, England, 1810 in Charleston, South Carolina, 1910 in Boston, and 2010 in San Diego, California) preparing this dessert. The word “fool” originated from the French word “fouler” which means “to mash” or “to press,” which is what you must do to the berries in this recipe.
The video I posted below is a fascinating look at the research that went into the making of this book. It was fun to watch them actually make the dessert. They even tried whipping the cream using a homemade twig whisk! I found it to be fascinating that Sophie Blackall used actual blackberries as paint to decorate the endpapers of this book (see the photo below).
Beautiful endpapers painted with actual blackberries!
I decided to try making the dessert myself! There were only four ingredients, so why not?
First, I mashed and strained the blackberries.
Then whipped the heavy cream and sugar and vanilla.
I folded in the berry mixture and placed it in a nice glass bowl. I like to follow ALL the directions in a recipe, so I had to lick the bowl (well, the spatula!).
Here's the completed blackberry fool after it was chilled! My family loved it!
If anyone is feeling ambitious and would like to make the blackberry fool, here is the recipe printed at the back of the book!
Blackberry Fool: A Recipe
(from A Fine Dessert by Emily Jenkins and Sophie Blackall)
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups fresh blackberries (Other berries will do--but the fool won't be such a nice purple color; frozen berries will work, though fresh are nicer.)
1/2 cup sugar, divided in two
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
Directions:
1/2 cup sugar, divided in two
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
Directions:
Find an adult to cook with you.
Mash the berries with a potato masher or a larger fork. If you've got a food processor, you can use that. With clean hands, press the crushed berries through a sieve to remove the seeds. Sprinkle the fruit with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Stir.
In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the vanilla and the cream. Using a whisk or whatever kind of beater you have, whip the mixture until it makes soft peaks, but not stiff ones.
Fold the sugared berries into the whipped cream. Taste it to see if it's sweet enough. Add more sugar if you need it. There should be streaks of white and purple.*
Refrigerate for 3 hours or more.
Eat! And don't forget to lick the bowl.
*According to the interview I watched featuring the creators of the book, you don’t want to overmix so you keep the beautiful purple swirls in the white cream. Enjoy!
Watch more read alouds from Mrs. Ferguson
Mash the berries with a potato masher or a larger fork. If you've got a food processor, you can use that. With clean hands, press the crushed berries through a sieve to remove the seeds. Sprinkle the fruit with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Stir.
In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the vanilla and the cream. Using a whisk or whatever kind of beater you have, whip the mixture until it makes soft peaks, but not stiff ones.
Fold the sugared berries into the whipped cream. Taste it to see if it's sweet enough. Add more sugar if you need it. There should be streaks of white and purple.*
Refrigerate for 3 hours or more.
Eat! And don't forget to lick the bowl.
*According to the interview I watched featuring the creators of the book, you don’t want to overmix so you keep the beautiful purple swirls in the white cream. Enjoy!
Watch more read alouds from Mrs. Ferguson
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