…who doesn’t try this deliciously simple dessert. As summer is approaching I can feel my culinary muscles getting sluggish. I don’t want to turn on the oven. It is enough to set a pot of water on the stove to boil. And baking? Well, just forget about it. I am tired, or maybe it’s just that I am lazy. That is why I’m happy to announce the discovery of the strawberry-rhubarb fool.

I had never had a fool– that mix of freshly whipped cream and fruit compote of your choosing– they had always seemed like a bit of a hoax to me. “So it’s some whipped cream, anyone can do that,” I questioned. And the answer is: precisely, anyone can do that. That is what makes this dessert so wonderfully egalitarian.

When I was a little girl we always had large Thanksgivings with all of the fixins’ at home. Except for one year, we went on holiday in Arizona, and had our feast in the hotel dining room. It was horrible. Instead of my grandmother hacking into the bird, there was a carving station. The mashed potatoes were congealed sitting under a heat lamp, and the stuffing was pulverized to saw dust. The only redemptive aspect of that Thanksgiving was dessert. No, I didn’t have pumpkin pie, not even an apple… there was mousse, creamy raspberry mousse.

Now what does all of this have to do with fool? I can’t remember the taste of this raspberry mousse, but I do remember how it made me feel– civilized, and all grown up. As I plunged my spoon into the fool, taking a bit of extra compote that I pooled on top, I sat a little straighter, straightened my napkin in lap.

There isn’t really a recipe for this fool. I simmered the rhubarb with a bit of sugar until the fruit fell apart. Setting the rhubarb aside, I blitzed some strawberries with another small amount of sugar, then joined the strawberry and rhubarb together to make a delightfully staining compote. Then whip the cream to stiff peaks with some vanilla extract, add the fruit to the cream, folding gently to maintain soft peaks, and there you have it. It couldn’t be simpler, or more satisfying.

I’m off for a bit, going to visit family in California, and hoping to see some apricots (my favorite fruit of the summer) when I get back!