Since it was All Fool's Day yesterday, I thought about writing a post that would fool everyone, but I'm just not that clever. However, I did make a fitting dessert for the occasion. Several years ago I stumbled across a recipe called Orange Fools. A fool is a dessert made with whipped cream and fruit puree. According to the Joy of Baking website,
Dating as far
back as the sixteenth century, this classic British dessert has seen its
popularity ebb and flow. A fruit fool is made with cooked or raw fruit that is puréed
or mashed, then sweetened, chilled, and finally folded into stiffly beaten whipped cream (there should be streaks of the white cream
showing where the fruit has not been completely folded into the whipped cream). Traditionally
fools were made with tart fruits such as raspberries, gooseberries,
blackberries, loganberries, and rhubarb but today virtually any fruit can be
used.
"Fool"
is believed to have originated from the French word "fouler"
which means "to mash" or "to press".
Until I came across the recipe in a magazine, I had never heard the term fool used to describe a food. But how can you go wrong with fruit and cream?
Unlike the description from the Joy of Baking website, the recipe I followed indicated to completely fold the fruit into the cream, so my version is more homogenous than photos on the Joy of Baking site. Also, I didn't think to use a martini glass, which would have worked better than the goblets I used. But no matter, it tasted great. Another difference in the recipe I used versus other recipes I've found is that you make an orange curd instead of just using a fruit puree. I used a navel orange plus a blood orange that was withering in the fridge drawer. The blood orange zest and juice boosted the color, and to
enhance the flavor a bit more, I used a couple teaspoons of frozen concentrated orange juice. I could eat that stuff with a spoon!
An orange fool is a Dreamsicle for adults. I adore the combination of orange and cream and Dreamsicles were a special treat when I was a kid. I suppose I could have "kicked it up a notch" by adding liqueur, infusing an herb or sprinkling in a spice, but sometimes simple is just fine. And speaking of cream, I've been thinking back to my days on the prairie in North Dakota, where in our very small town of 1,000 people there was a creamery. It's been closed for many years, but when I was little, my mother and I would take our plastic Tupperware jug, walk the two blocks to the creamery, and have the rich, thick, ivory cream ladled into our container from a large tank. Even as a kid I loved cream and I had to fight the urge to dunk my head in the tank 
and lap up the luscious liquid. Today's ultra-pasteurized, homogenized cream is a far cry
from the heavenly substance found in that tank.
Here's a tip to get the most out of the crap cream we have today. Don't beat it on high speed. I know it's faster that way, but I find I get more volume and a more stable whipped cream if I beat it on low speed. I have a good hand mixer with a whisk attachment, but this applies even to an old Sunbeam mixer with post-type beaters. Use low or medium-low speed. I use speed 2 out of 7 on my Cuisinart. I never bother to chill the bowl or beaters unless it's really hot in my kitchen and still have great success.
By using a lower speed, I guess it gives the cream more time to set up, thereby incorporating more air. At least that's my theory. Last night I took half a cup of ultra-pasteurized cream that had been in the fridge for a month and it more than quadrupled in volume - I got over two cups of firm whipped cream. I also take the cream a bit farther than most people recommend - I go beyond firm peaks, until it almost starts to clump up for butter. There's a fine line there, but on low speed it's harder to over whip. By beating it a bit more I find it tends not to water out as easily and I've
kept it for a few days without weeping. This is especially nice if you are using it as a pie topping.
Besides being the perfect ending for All Fool's Day, it's an easy, delicious dessert that can be made any time of year out of just about any fruit.
Orange Fools
Serves 4
2 large oranges
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon frozen concentrated orange juice (optional)
2 large eggs
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
Zest the oranges and mince finely. Squeeze 1 cup juice from oranges and in a small heavy saucepan simmer until reduced by half.
Remove pan from heat and add sugar and butter to juice, whisking until butter is melted. Whisk in egg until combined and cook over low heat, whisking, until thick enough to hold marks of the whisk and first bubbles appear, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add zest and frozen concentrate if using. (A little orange liqueur wouldn't hurt either.) Pour into a small bowl set in ice water and stir until cold. (You may also pour into a bowl, cover the surface directly with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge until cold.)
In another bowl beat cream until it holds stiff peaks and fold in orange curd gently. It's preferable to have a few streaks remain. Spoon into martini glasses or goblets and garnish with mandarin orange slices and mint leaves, if desired. If you want to gild the lily, rim the glasses with orange tinted and flavored sugar.
