Rhubarb and orange yoghurt fool
A classic fool combines a fruit compote or purée, custard and cream to delicious effect. This is a sort of deconstructed version, with yoghurt replacing the cream to give the whole thing a lighter feel. You could mix all three elements together, of course, but we like the look of them unmingled in the dish.
Prep 20mins Cook 10mins Servs 6
Method
To make the compote, put the rhubarb, orange juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the rhubarb breaks down into a purée. You can stop it when some of the rhubarb is still just holding its shape, but make sure it's quite tender and not at all crunchy.
Use a sieve to strain off a little of the syrupy juice, so you get a slightly denser rhubarb mixture and some good, tart rhubarb syrup. (You could trickle this syrup on pancakes, or top up with chilled fizzy wine to make a rhubarb bellini.) Cool the rhubarb and then chill.
For each serving, put a couple of tablespoons of the rhubarb into a slightly tilted bowl, turn the tilted bowl slightly, spoon a couple of tablespoons of custard alongside the compote, tilt, and do the same with the thick yoghurt.
The idea is that the three elements stay roughly separate in the bowl. It's the eater's prerogative to dip and mix, a little, a lot, or not all, sampling different proportions of the three elements, as they wish.
Ingredients
- 1 quantity of custard (500ml)
- 500ml thick, rich yoghurt
For the rhubarb compote:
- 1kg rhubarb, cut into
- 4-5cm lengths
- Juice of 1 large orange
- 125g caster sugar
This recipe is taken from...
If you like this recipe, you might like the following course...
One Day Cookery Course
Master new kitchen skills in the most idyllic of settings, with a day of interactive learning on the River Cottage One Day Cookery Course.
Full details