A classic British dessert, the strawberry fool is the fun and easy dessert kids could make themselves with minimal assistance from adults. An insanely delicious summer dessert to indulge in when fresh strawberries are abundant in the market.
The most challenging part of parenting is to keep kids occupied without gadgets, specifically during long summer holidays. Cooking with kids is a fun activity and a great way to keep them engaged for a while. This berry fool is one of the easiest recipes older kids could prepare themselves while the younger kids would need adult assistance dealing with an electric hand mixer.
The no-bake dessert recipes such as this strawberry fool, chocolate peanut butter energy balls, open faced sandwich, chocolate almond clusters, oatmeal energy balls are all fun recipes to plan as a summer activity. Kids love getting their hands dirty and messing in the kitchen with such easy recipes and then proudly devour them without any fuss.
Introducing kids to cooking activities at an early age helps them develop healthy eating habits. Recipes such as my chickpea veggie patties, vegetable quesadilla, vegetable flatbread pizza, bread pizza, and carrot pasta help them try varieties of vegetables and food with various textures and tastes. It certainly prevents them from picky eating and increases the acceptance level of food with varied textures.
Although this is a simple and easy dessert to make with just a few ingredients, it is not as healthy as chocolate fruit dip or yogurt fruit dip. It is a perfect indulgence occasionally and a great individual dessert to have on a kid’s summer party menu.
Ingredients
- Strawberries: Fresh juicy and sweet strawberries make the best strawberry fool. However, feel free to use frozen fruit when strawberries are not in season.
- Cream: Double cream is used here. It is termed heavy cream or whipping cream in the United States.
- Sweetener: I have used maple syrup, but feel free to use whichever suits you.
- Flavouring Agent: Vanille extract is used for its lovely flavour.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Wash the strawberries, remove the stalks (aka hull them) and cut them into quarters.
Place them in a deep bowl and mash them with a fork or a masher.
Close the container with a plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until ready.
In a second bowl pour the double cream (heavy cream), maple syrup and vanilla extract.
Whip it with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks.
Now take the mashed strawberries out of the fridge.
Add half of the mashed strawberries into the whipped cream and fold in.
In a glass pour a spoonful of reserved mashed strawberries, top it with the prepared strawberry and cream mixture.
Finally, put a spoon of mashed strawberries and garnish with whole strawberry and crumbled cookies.
Substitutions
Maple syrup could be swapped with any other sweetener such as honey or agave syrup.
Vanilla extract could be substituted with lemon zest for flavour variation.
Fresh strawberries could be substituted with frozen if you plan to make this recipe when strawberries are not in season.
Variations
Switch flavours by using any summer berries or a blend of berries.
Serving Suggestions
Strawberry fool is a fabulous dessert to enjoy after a meal.
Great treat to enjoy anytime on summer days.
Perfect as an after-school snack.
Perfect individual dessert to serve guests at summer parties.
Storage
Leftover strawberry fool could be stored in the fridge and consumed within a day. Later the cream starts deflating and won’t be fluffy.
Tips and Tricks
Ensure to whip the cream just until soft peaks, do not over whip it.
You may not require as much sweetener as mentioned in the recipe card if strawberries are sweet. Check the taste and adjust it to suit your taste preference.
It’s not necessary to mash strawberries until smooth. A few chunks are absolutely ok.
Ensure to use the chilled bowl to speed up the whipping process. Keep the bowl in the fridge for 2-3 hours and then use it.
Use chilled cream straight from the fridge. Room temperature cream won’t get thick even after several minutes of whipping.
FAQs
Essentially this classic strawberry and cream dessert taste great with fresh strawberries. Although strawberries are available year-round they are at their best and plentiful during peak season. During the off-peak season, it might be difficult to source high-quality fresh strawberries (sweet strawberries). Those days frozen strawberries could be used if you thaw (defrost) them properly.
Wash, remove stalks, cut and mash strawberries ahead of time and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
The cream has to be prepared fresh as it won’t stay fluffy and starts to deflate and turns into a runny consistency despite storing it in the fridge.
1. Freeze them to use up later in frozen desserts such as strawberry frozen yogurt and strawberry yogurt bark.
2. Make a strawberry banana milkshake with either fresh or frozen strawberries.
3. Use them as filling in nutella crepes.
4. Smoothies are a great way to use them up quickly.
5. Make a delicious berry crumble and in a fruit crisp recipe.
Not using chilled cream is the common reason for not thickening even after whipping for a longer time. Whipping double cream (heavy cream) that’s not cold enough won’t thicken or help achieve fluffy texture and soft peaks.
Yes, double cream is the British term and the term heavy cream is used in the United States. Although both are used in similar ways, the double cream has a slightly higher fat content than heavy cream.
Check out apple strawberry crisp recipe on the blog.
Strawberry Fool
Ingredients
1 cup = 250ml ; 1 Tablespoon = 15ml ; 1 Teaspoon = 5ml
- 2 cups (or) 330 gms Fresh Strawberries
- 1 ¼ cups (or) 300 ml Double Cream (Heavy Cream)
- 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For Garnish
- 3 Fresh Strawberries sliced
- ½ Cookie (optional) crumbled
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries, remove the stalks (aka hull them) and cut them into quarters.2 cups (or) 330 gms Fresh Strawberries
- Place them in a deep bowl and mash them with a fork or a masher.
- Close the container with a plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until ready.
- In a second bowl pour the double cream (heavy cream), maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whip it with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks.1 ¼ cups (or) 300 ml Double Cream (Heavy Cream), 1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup, 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Now take the mashed strawberries out of the fridge.
- Add half of the mashed strawberries into the whipped cream and fold in.
- In a glass pour a spoonful of reserved mashed strawberries and top it with the prepared strawberry and cream mixture.
- Finally, put a spoon of mashed strawberries and garnish with whole strawberry and crumbled cookies.3 Fresh Strawberries, ½ Cookie (optional)
Notes
Nutrition
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