Skip to main content

Berry Foolish

There is an amazing lot I don't know about cooking. I've never baked a cake or a whole loaf of bread. Never made meringue. Never worked with a pastry bag.

I always get fascinated by professionally decorated food so decided to set at least the last one right. Whipped a cup of cream with a tbsp of caster sugar until it was thick. Got hold of a sandwich bag, cut a small hole and dropped a piping nozzle in. Filled the bag with my whipped cream and then spent a happy hour creating circles, curves and squiggles. I won't torment you with my amateur decorating skills.

But when I'd finished having fun with piping cream I still had half a bag of whipped cream left. Perfect to make a fool.



I've been mixing whipped cream and fruit to create a decandent dessert for ages. But I realized very recently that this is the classic English dessert called Fool. A typical fool is a mix of sweetened fruit puree and whipped cream. But where do I find fruits suitable for a fool in Bombay monsoon - no berries, few peaches (and none in my fridge).

So I got out my bottle of mixed berry no-sugar preserve. I mixed 2 tbsp of that with a tbsp of orange juice to get puree like consistency. Dropped the entire leftover cream on top of this, and mixed very gently. The cream got deliciously flavored, and was lovely when chilled in a wine glass.

Comments

Bharti said…
That sounds like a fun afternoon! There is an amazing lot that most of us don't know about cooking and baking. That's simply 'cause there is just too much out there to know and learn. Fool sounds lovely.
notyet100 said…
this sounds like nice fun,..nce ame too,..:-)
Anonymous said…
Wow...looks like you a pleasant afternoon :) Looks wonderful!
Anonymous said…
wow tahts a very creative idea and its really fun to make new food like this. Its absolutely refreshing.
Suganya said…
This is so cool. YUM!
Rachel said…
With real berries or not..it sure does tempt me....
Looks lovely. Just haven't been able to figure out why it's called "fool"! Just doesn't do justice to such a lovely concotion.
Sunshinemom said…
I too do that sometimes - trying to decorate the rim etc. Its nice to drink that way:) Yep! I read about these fools - the peach and the mango in GH, and Femina!

Popular posts from this blog

Kadhi Chawal

I just can't think of what to write today. That's what my absolute favorite meal does to me, I just want to stop talking and dig right in. So I won't ramble and go straight on the recipe for kadhi. First, make the pakoras that would go in the kadhi. Slice an onion lengthwise. Make a batter with 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan), salt, red chilli powder and water. Dip onions in this batter and deep fry until crisp. Keep aside. Now blend 1 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup besan into a paste. Add 3-4 cups water to make a very thin blend. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add a tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain (carom seeds) and methre (fenugreek seeds). Let splutter for a few seconds. Now add a large onion, cut lengthwise into thin slices and cook until browned lightly. Pour in the yogurt/besan mix and add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least half an hour. You have to stir this occasio...

Dukkah

Talk about myths busted. I went to Dubai planning to buy zat'ar, the fragrant herb and spice mix. And Dukkah, the interesting blend of nuts and spices. Not sumac, because I still have a pack left in my fridge. So zat'ar was easy - every Carrefour supermarket had that one. But no one had dukkah and I was like, how can they not have dukkah? It's a middle eastern thing, right! But well, they don't sell dukkah in Dubai, so I came back and armed with recipes from 10-odd blogs (all roughly the same), I set to make my own. The key to making dukkah is : line up all your ingredients, toast each of them separately in a heavy non-stick pan till they are fragrant and lightly roasted, then put everything in a blender and grind coarsely. This is your dukkah. Now dip your bread in olive oil, then dip it in dukkah and indulge. A final word of warning: this can be highly addictive. And finally, my list of ingredients: 1/4 cup almonds 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 1/2 tbsp sesame...

Bibimbap

This is the reason I love taking part in Taste & Create . There is so much new to learn and try when you meet new partners. This month, I am visiting Kitschow in Vancouver for a course in Asian cooking. She also tries a lot of other cuisines, but wok is her favorite way to cook. I first thought I'd find very little vegetarian choice at her place. But as luck would have it, she has recently done a lot of vegetarian cooking and eating for lent and I had a virtual rainbow to pick from. Everything looked so delicious it was tough to pick one. I picked the one with the cutest name : Bibimbap . Bibimbap is a Korean rice, usually topped with beef and vegetables but Kitschow made a vegan version for Lent. The recipe has three parts. First you cook the rice. Then, when it's almost done but is still moist, you arrange vegetables on top so it looks colorful and pretty. For the vegan version, Kitschow just put raw veggies there and let them cook in the steam. But I liked the i...