Summer berry fool

The name of this British dessert comes from the French "fouler", meaning to press or crush, and refers to the juicy, freshly crushed berries. Freshly baked sponge fingers really set this casual assembly of ingredients apart.

Credit: Danielle Abou Karam

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 800 g raspberries
• 55 g icing sugar plus extra, for dusting
• 2 tsp rosewater
• 2 drops pure vanilla essence
• ¼ lemon, finely grated zest
• 450 ml thickened cream (35 % fat)

Sponge fingers

• 6 eggs, at room temperature, separated
• 180 g caster sugar
• 180 g plain flour, sifted twice
• 40 g icing sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. For the sponge fingers, preheat the oven to 220˚C. Line 2 baking trays lines with baking paper.
2. Using an electric stand mixer, beat the egg yolks with 120 g of the sugar until thick and pale and the mixture leaves a trail when lifted on top of itself.
3. Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl with the remaining 60 g sugar until firm peaks form. Gently fold one third of the egg whites into the yolk mixture to loosen, then add the remaining egg whites in two stages. Sift in the plain flour in batches and use a whisk to fold through. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1.5 cm nozzle. You may need to do this in several stages depending upon the size of your piping bag.
4. Pipe 10 cm long fingers onto the paper -lined trays. Dust with icing sugar and bake for 7 - 9 minutes, dusting once more with icing sugar half - way through cooking. Remove from the oven and transfer the fingers to a wire rack before they have completely cooled to avoid sticking. Makes about 28 fingers.
5. Measure out 300 g raspberries and divide evenly between 6 glasses. Place 350 g of the remaining raspberries and the sifted icing sugar in a jug and use a stick blender to process into a thick puree. Add the rosewater, vanilla and lemon zest. Measure out 170 g of the puree and set aside.
6. Drizzle one generous tablespoon of the remaining puree across the raspberries in each of the glasses.
7. Whip the cream until soft peaks form and gently fold through the reserved raspberry puree. Divide this mix evenly between the 6 glasses. Spoon over the remaining raspberry puree and finish with the remaining fresh raspberries. Dust with icing sugar and serve with sponge fingers.

 

Photography by Danielle Abou Karam.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.