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You are here: Home / Recipes / Dessert / Blueberry fool with pistachios

Blueberry fool with pistachios

by Jeanne Horak on June 5, 2009 17 Comments in Dessert, Gluten-free, Waiter, there's something in my...

Blueberry fool

 

Another week, another post drought here on Cooksister. Aaaargh.

I have to say, I do not know how people undertake their own DIY house renovations.  Even just trying to project manage somebody else to do my renovations is doing my head in!  It eats up all your time and energy and I hardly cook (true confession: we had sardines on toast one night this week.  Mea culpa.), let alone blog.  It’s just a whirl of carpenters and plumbers and porcelain vs. ceramic tiles and choosing door handles. On Wednesday night Nick and I were standing in the large room formerly known as “two separate bedrooms”, staring at the wall we had taken down in preparation for redistributing the space.  I turned to Nick and said “well, I guess we’ve passed the point of no return now!!”

Still, life goes on, and last weekend before true chaos descended on the new house we did manage to take advantage of the FABULOUS weather and host a little braai in our new place.  We sat in the garden among the bumblebees who were all lazily exploring the flowering hedge (some sort of pyracantha, I think), enjoying the sun and later moved to the conservatory where we feasted on Nick’s marinated chicken thighs.  Given that we are still not living there and all cooking utensils and ingredients have to be ferried across from our old place, desserts tend to be simple.  Last week I made my volcanic baked apples for friends – this time round it was an old English favourite:  blueberry fool.

Now a fool is an ancient English dessert in which whipped cream, puréed fruit, sugar and possibly a flavouring agent are mixed together, with the classic being gooseberry fool.  I have noticed on recent visits to gastropubs that such old English desserts are enjoying a revival – rhubarb crumble, lemon posset, and all manner of fruit fools are gracing all sorts of upmarket pub tables.  Although the theme that my co-founder Johanna selected for this month’s Waiter, There’s Something in My… event was bistro cooking, she expanded the theme slightly to include the kind of food that you might find in a gastropub – which is why this is my (hilariously late) entry into this month’s WTSIM.  The pistachios are an entirely untraditional addition but looked gorgeous on the cover of a recent Sainsbury’s magazine – so I proceeded to be inspired 🙂

 

BlueberryFoolCollage

BLUEBERRY FOOL WITH PISTACHIOS (serves 4)

For printable recipe, click here.

Ingredients:

1 x 300g punnet fresh blueberries
500ml whipping or double cream
a little caster sugar (of desired – I didn’t use any)
4 Tbsp crushed roasted pistachios (I used salted)

Method:

Place the blueberries in a small saucepan over low heat with about 50ml of water (and a little caster sugar is you like it sweet).  Simmer until the berries start to break up.  Use a fork to break them up further and continue to simmer until all the berries have been roughly crushed.  Allow to cool.

In the meanwhile, crush the pistachios roughly and beat the cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold the cooled berry mixture into the whipped cream, leaving swirls of colour rather than mixing it in completely.

Scoop equal amounts of the cream/berry mix into 4 wine glasses or glass bowls, top each with a Tbsp of crushed pistachios and serve.

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  1. johanna says

    June 5, 2009 at 6:48 pm

    ah finally… but i completely understand how immersed you must be in all those renovations. i hope you can see the light at the end of the tunnel already.
    now, fools are not something i’d personally eat (being lactose intolerant), but your pictures make me want to dive in nonetheless 😉
    thanks for taking the time to blog about this and i can’t wait for the housewarming party!!!

    Reply
  2. Helen says

    June 5, 2009 at 7:08 pm

    Good luck with your DIY projects! And what is wrong with sardines on toast may I ask? Yum! 😉

    Reply
  3. Andrew says

    June 5, 2009 at 7:47 pm

    Nothign at all wrong with sardines on toast – the addition of a little mayo and a basil leaf makes all the difference!

    Reply
  4. courtney says

    June 5, 2009 at 9:29 pm

    You amaze me that you can even entertain with a BBQ! Dont worry about the blog. I t will be ther when things settle down a bit. I have cut back to 1 post a week the past few months.And I love these sort of fruity creamy desserts.

    Reply
  5. Manggy says

    June 6, 2009 at 4:30 am

    Hey, I don’t mind if you blog about your renovations– would be interesting to see all the work being documented 🙂 I love sardines on bread, I pour a generous amount of the tomato sauce/oil inside!
    I love the anthocyanin-y swirl of these fools, it’s such a pretty color 🙂

    Reply
  6. Mel says

    June 6, 2009 at 6:30 am

    So why is it called fool btw?

    Reply
  7. grace says

    June 6, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    not only is this a BEAUTIFUL dessert, those contrasting textures would be incredible! a person would be a FOOL not to love it (da dun dun). 🙂

    Reply
  8. Kevin says

    June 6, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Blueberry fools are a great way to enjoy the fresh blue blueberries. They are a really nice cool treat for warm summer days.

    Reply
  9. nina says

    June 7, 2009 at 5:14 am

    Renovations are bad and exciting all at the same time…just hang in there!!!An easier and more delicious dessert will be hard to find!!!!

    Reply
  10. Sophie says

    June 7, 2009 at 6:21 am

    Lovely dessert: beautifully presented too!

    Reply
  11. Pille says

    June 7, 2009 at 7:18 am

    I WANT SOME!!!

    Reply
  12. Charlotte says

    June 7, 2009 at 9:01 am

    Jeanne, you are a life-saver. I have people coming for a BBQ today and this is the perfect low-carb dessert to make both me and my visitors happy. Just so you know I am also serving your SA beer bread, for which I am becoming rapidly famous – this time with sage, parmesan and coriander seeds. I won’t be able to eat it but I have been enjoying the smells as it cooks!
    Good luck with the renovations …

    Reply
  13. Paula Maack says

    June 16, 2009 at 8:48 pm

    Nice job, Jeanne! I love simple dessert like these. It looks beautiful and delicious!
    Thanks for sharing, even while up to your elbows in renovation plans!
    Cheers,
    ~ Paula

    Reply
  14. browniegirl says

    June 18, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    Aaaaah renovations….I can empathise….horrible and exciting at the same time….dreadful if they take longer than expected…..thinking of you Jeanne and I know you are going to be so thrilled with the end results….rememeber aanhouer wen :o) And ja, I just cannot resist a fool of any flavour and this one looks totally amazing….Shall have to get cracking and make me some fools. Thanx xxx

    Reply
  15. June says

    June 24, 2009 at 6:29 pm

    This looks SO good!

    Reply
  16. James Bernard says

    July 7, 2009 at 9:00 am

    The preparation looks good I think this desert is really delicious,….And they say that blue has a anti oxidant properties,…Any ways this blog cooksister is awesome its very helpful for those who don’t know how to cooked.

    Reply
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Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

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