Rhubarb fool
Take 500g trimmed rhubarb, and cut into roughly 2cm lengths.
Place in a non-metallic dish, sprinkle with sugar and powdered ginger, and either microwave until softened, or (for preference) roast in a medium oven for about 40 minutes. Roasting concentrates the flavour.
Blitz in a blender until smooth.
Leave to cool, then mix with 500g good-quality custard.
Serve chilled, with a drizzle of pouring cream.
The younger your rhubarb, the better your fool will be – later in the season the stems become woody, and even after blending the pulp may need to be sieved.
If, however, you arrive at your rhubarb patch, custard in hand, and find that your stems are not yet quite ready, I’d suggest that you simply pull up a chair and wait – you really don’t want to miss the moment.
* No custard was wasted in the making of this image: gooseberries from the freezer are being roasted as I write. I will grind the cooked gooseberries in a Mouli to separate the pulp from the seeds.
