Strawberry Fool

Strawberry fool is a deliciously light dessert, with layers of whipped cream and strawberry puree. It makes a beautiful presentation for any occasion. 

This post was originally published on June 4th, 2012, and has been updated with step-by-step photos.

Strawberry Fool is a classic British dessert which first appeared in the late 16th century.

Originally made with custard, today most fools are made with whipped cream. While most any fruit can be used in a fool, traditionally strawberry, gooseberry or rhubarb was used. Usually the fruit puree is blended with the whipped cream. But for this “ombre” version, I reserved some of the macerated berries, pureed some and added the puree in varying quantities to the whipped cream to to get four shades of whipped cream.  This version is also naturally gluten free! (This post contains affiliate links)

 Hull fresh strawberries…Fresh is best, but a few bruised or past-prime berries can slip by and won’t be noticed once they’ve been macerated with some sugar and liqueur, then pureed.

Chop berries and add sugar and liqueur. While berries are releasing their juices, whip cream.

Chop berries, add liqueur and sugar.

Divide whipped cream, chopped berries and pureed berries.

Divide whipped cream, chopped berries and pureed berries.

Add puree to 2 bowls of whipped cream, leaving one bowl of whipped cream plain. Make the whipped cream as dark or light as you wish.

Divide whipped cream into 3 bowl. Leave one plain and add puree to the other bowls to make layers.

A Fool comes together very quickly, and it can look very fancy if you just pop it in a champagne glass, or more simple a small dish or Weck jar. But definitely use glass, so that you can see the pretty layers. These are pretty.

The “petite” version of a strawberry fool.

Layer fruit and whipped cream…

from darkest to lightest, reserving plain whipped cream for the top layer.

Strawberry fool is the perfect dessert to usher in the spring.

5 from 2 votes

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Strawberry Fool

For a traditonal fool, puree all the berries, then fold into the whipped cream. For the "ombre" version shown in the photo. Reserve some of the puree for the bottom layer. Divide the whipped cream into 3 bowls. Add varying amounts of the remaining puree to two of the bowls of whipped cream, reserving 1 bowl of plain whipped cream. Add a small amount of puree in the bottom of each glass. Top with darkest layer, then middle layer, then whipped cream. Makes 4-6 servings depending on the size of the container. 

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Author: Cynthia McCloud Woodman

Ingredients

• 1 pint of strawberries washed, hulled and chopped
• 1/2 cup of sugar divided
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons Chambord (Raspberry liqueur) optional

Instructions

1. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and the Chambord to the strawberries and let them macerate for about 15 minutes, to bring out the juices, stirring occasionally. With a slotted spoon, reserve 1/2 of the berries. Puree remaining berries and juice in a food processor or blender, leaving puree a bit chunky.
2. Whip cream to stiff peaks in a mixer, adding the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, about half way through.

3. To finish a classic Fool, you would then carefully fold in all of the remaining strawberry mixture into the whipped cream, or as I did, (mostly for photographic purposes) add the puree to the whipped cream in varying degrees to create an "ombre" effect. (see notes above)

4. Chill fools for one hour for best flavor.

For this recipe I used: