Recipes - Rhubarb and Ginger Fool
In Elizabethan times, when cream was much liked, a fool was a flavoured cream mixed with eggs and heated gently until it thickened. (At this time, desserts with rather silly names, like ‘trifle' and ‘fool', formed part of a ‘banquet' course.) Later, in the eighteenth century, fools became more like those of today, the pulp of cooked fruits beaten together with cream and sugar.
Here I've allied my favourite rhubarb - from the Yorkshire ‘rhubarb triangle' - and ginger. I like to use martini glasses
Trim the rhubarb and cut it into 2.5cm (1 in) strips. Put into a pan, and add about 2 tbsp water. Add the butter, sugar and ginger, and slowly simmer away until cooked, about 10 minutes. Remove and discard the ginger, and allow the rhubarb to cool.
Take out a third of the rhubarb and drain through a sieve or colander, keeping the resulting juice. Put the juice on to the heat to reduce by about two-thirds, then cool.
Meanwhile, divide the drained rhubarb between the four glasses.
Take the remaining rhubarb and purée in a blender or processor; do not make a fine purée, leave some texture.
Whip the cream to soft peaks - do not over-whip - then sweeten with icing sugar to taste. Fold in the rhubarb purée. Using a piping bag with a 1cm (½ in) nozzle, pipe the fool mixture in a circular fashion into each glass. Chill for 2 hours only.
Pour the reduced juice over the top of each glass, and serve.
