I don't know much about British desserts, but I do like their names -- Spotted Dick, Eton Mess, and then of course the Fruit Fool, which is what I ended up making today. It's actually a Cherry Fool which combines lightly cooked cherries with brown sugar sweetened whipped cream and honeyed almonds.
Cherry Fool from Whole Foods
This Cherry Fool is from Whole Foods via Food52 where its submitter commented that she'd like to serve it at her wedding. The recipe makes four individual servings, but it halves nicely if you only need two. What's unique about it (other than the cherries) are the honeyed almonds and the brown sugar. Almonds are tossed with honey and baked until golden brown and crispy, then scattered over the cherry swirled brown sugar sweetened whipped cream.
Toasting Slivered Almonds
This is an easy dessert that's perfect for hot "cherry season" days, but it does involve turning on the oven. Almonds are cooked at 400 for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye one them so they won't burn! Also, don't make them when you are hungry or you might not have any left for the Fool.
As for the cherries, they are very lightly cooked in a saucepan. The cooking process is really just to help them release their juices and should take 5 minutes at the most. Almond extract is essential in my opinion, and I recommend adding it after taking the cherries off the heat so that it won't evaporate.
If you try this fool or have recommendations for another similar recipe, let me know.
Recipe
Cherry Fool
Ingredients
Honey Almonds
- ⅓ cup sliced or slivered almonds
- 1 tablespoon honey
Cherry Sauce
- 1 heaping cup pitted fresh sweet cherries
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Brown Sugar Whipped Cream
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat (if you have one) or parchment paper or nonstick foil.
- In a small bowl, coat nuts with honey and spread on the lined tray. Bake 5 to 10 minutes, until golden. Allow the nuts to cool and then break into pieces.
- In a small saucepan, combine cherries, lemon juice, sugar and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until cherries begin to break down and release their juices -- about 5 minutes. Juices will not really thicken much because there isn't any cornstarch.
- Remove from heat, transfer to a small bowl and then stir in the almond extract. Place bowl in a larger bowl of ice water, and stir mixture occasionally until cold.
- In a separate bowl, combine cream, brown sugar, and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form; fold in ⅓ cup of the cherry sauce. Combine, but not fully -- there should be beautiful cherry streaks running through the fresh cream.
- Divide among four dessert dishes, and spoon remaining cherries over tops.
- Garnish with the honey almonds.
T. Martin says
Love almond extract but I feel this could really be drool worthy with some kirsch...
Anna says
You should try the cherry version, however I am going to make a note to use regular sugar. The brown sugar was different, but after tasting it multiple times I think it was too much and that the cherry and almond flavors were blunted by the brown sugar.
Sonya says
This one sounds great, and more complex than the fools I've made, with the honeyed almonds, and the brown sugar in the whipping cream. I'm not a big fan of fools myself (haha), but in cooking through all of my recipes, I made the Rhubarb Fool, Strawberry-Rhubarb Fool, and Blueberry-Rhubarb Fool with Ginger from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, and they were all good!