A Fool for Blackberries.

I wasn't up to more preserving just now, inspired though I was by this post at Box Elder. I went with a blackberry fool, with a crunch.

So today: my Blackberry Fool with Blackberry Meringue.

I love to think of the fool coming from the French word fouler, to crush, with a bit of a clumsy quality imbedded in the word. (I could also think of this as an over-enthusiastic performance of Eton Mess, yet that might altogether conjure something unwieldy, and so my mind doesn't brave it.) I love fool, no matter the name, too because my body staunchly refuses to tire of good softly whipped cream, and how well it loves fruit.

I also can't weary of the meringue + cream + fruit--either as a pavlova, or a vacherin--only this combination has none of the grownup challenge of real crunch, this is more like a gentle childish spoon version.

And so: I started with 500g of blackberries (50 deca, as said at markets here in Hungary), though I ended up using somewhat less than that, after a handful (the one pictured) was eaten upon coming home.

For the meringue component: 200g (1 cup) sugar and 4 egg whites placed in a clean stainless or glass bowl placed over a pan of barely simmering water for one minute or so, until the sugar crystals dissolve (so you no longer feel them between your fingers). If you omit this melting-in step, you're meringue won't be as crisp, which is frankly no great loss here, but I was in a thorough mood. Whip the egg whites with a mixer (or engage whoever's around to take turns to do it by hand) until billowy and marshmallowy, and keeps a peak when the whisk is lifted out. In a separate bowl, mash a handful or two of blackberries, and gently mix them in the beaten egg whites--let it be streaky and uneven. You then slather, somewhat evenly, the whole thing on a lined baking sheet, and bake it until dry in a cool oven (220F/110C/1/4 Gas Mark) until it's dry and feels hollow when picked up. Not much trouble here--turn it off if you've an errand to run, it will wait. Allow to cool, and then cover with a sheet of something or a tea towel, or place in a plastic bag, and bash with whatever's handy--I usually use my rolling pin--until you have mostly a sandy-pebbly rubble of purple meringue. You'll have more crumbs than you'll need, but delicious ones at that.

When ready to eat the fool, softly whip 500 ml of cold whipping cream with 2 tablespoon of sugar (a cold bowl, and cold whisk helps this, but I rarely bother). Reserve some very pretty blackberries for garnish (or don't) and in a separate bowl mash blackberries, leaving uneven bits. Gently fold the two together, with about 1/2 of the broken meringue, reserving the rest to sprinkle on the tops.

Spoon the fool into dessert or wine glasses, with reserved blackberries at the bottom, or on top, and sprinkle tops with reserved meringue.

Comments

[Bill]

Dash, bash -- whatever! Great comic relief. You've a nice way with telling that recipe -- you'll save it for your book?

Your getting close to Mom's pavlova.

I'd want to add ice cream.

I hadn't heard of heating the egg whites and sugar when making meringue. Do you always do that?

I like how the black berries get mashed, for good measure. No chewing necessary; you can test the lumps with a nudge from your teeth as they go by and get a feel for things that way.

[Tori]

I'm so pleased you liked it, Bill!

Meringues have three levels of fussiness:

--Cutey Fuss (a.k.a. Simple Meringue): add granulated sugar in a stream as you're beating the whites. Makes for a more tender meringue.

--Can't Leave Well-Enough Alone (a.k.a. Swiss Meringue): You heat, as described above, the egg whites and sugar together, to dissolve the sugar. You get more volume from warmed eggwhites anyway, but you also here get a lot more stability to shape the meringue, and also get quite a bit of crunch.

--Advanced Fusspot (a.k.a. Italian Meringue) you first make a sugar syrup and then pour it in gently into your beating (so to speak) egg whites. This stuff is so stable, so solid, you might use it as mortar.

For Pavlovas including undoubtedly your mother's, and Vacherins (which are really just a Pavlova sandwich), you're meant to use simple meringue, as you're looking for something of a cakey texture--crunch, but not atomic crunch. And mercifully, they're also the easiest to make.

[Lucy]

Oh my, this does sound good! And thanks for the link.

I went for a walk today after the rain and was eating them off the hedges, they were very moist and sweet and clean, and was just thinking about blackberries and ice cream, which was one of my dad's favourites. They had good bushes in their garden in Sussex, and he used to pick them and freeze them and eat them through the winter with vanilla ice cream. The sound of the frozen blackberries landing on the china plate used to remind my mum of Sunday teatime in Norwich when she was a child, and, she said, you could hear the winkles being poured onto the plates form outside the houses!

Food is so nostalgic...

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It is calorie-free so will not gain any pounds unless some sweetener or flavouring agent is added..

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