Last week I couldn’t decide whether to post the white chocolate lemon biscotti recipe or this recipe for Nigel Slater’s rhubarb custard fool. I made them both last weekend to get ahead on recipes for the blog and they were both just so good!
In the end, I decided two rhubarb recipes in a row might be a little too much (strawberry rhubarb pie, then this) so it was biscotti last week and this killer rhubarb fool this week.
This is from Nigel Slater’s book, Ripe, and it’s incredible! You make everything yourself from the rhubarb compote, to the custard, to the whipped cream and it is worth every second you spend on it.
If you really wanted to you could probably buy the custard and whipped cream, but where’s the fun in that?! They’re both easy to make, I promise 😉
The recipe says to swirl together everything when you’re assembling it but if you’d rather layer the rhubarb compote and custard cream on top of each other, that’ll work too and it’ll look great.
I hope you all had a wonderfully relaxing Memorial Day weekend and are starting this shorter week refreshed, happy and ready to tackle anything that comes your way.
Rhubarb Fool
Ingredients
- Fool:
- 14 oz. rhubarb stalks, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 tbsp. water
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- Custard:
- 3 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp. sugar
Directions
- Step 1 In a medium saucepan, combine the rhubarb with the water and sugar. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once the mixture begins to boil, turn the heat down to low and simmer until rhubarb is softened, about 12-15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the softened rhubarb stalks from the syrup
- Step 2 set the stalks aside. Pour the syrup into a container and refrigerate.
- Step 3 Make the custard: In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, add 2 1/2 cups of cream and the vanilla bean. Just before the mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Step 4 In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until the yolks turn pale in colour, about 5 minutes. Carefully pour the warm cream over the eggs
- Step 5 discard the vanilla bean and stir to combine. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over medium-low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until custard begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve set over a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour.
- Step 6 In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1 cup cream until it forms soft peaks. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold 1 cup of the cooled custard into the whipped cream
- Step 7 reserve the rest of the custard for another use. Add the cooked rhubarb and fold in gently, so the fruit forms pale pink streaks through the custard and cream. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then spoon into little glasses or bowls and serve, pouring a little of the rhubarb syrup on top, if desired.
