Sunday, September 21, 2008

Good-Bye to Summer Fruits


I bought a pint of strawberries yesterday, but the variety (and prices!) of other summer berries left much to be desired. A favorite this last summer, which I have never really taken advantage of before, was the blueberry. I had always thought of it as a fruit that disappointed - never sweet enough and not tasting as you think it should.



But I happened to buy a LOT of blueberries this summer from a great source, Jersey Fruit (preferably pronounced "Joisey Fruit!" in a high pitched voice). They were sweet and juicy, and the adorable mascots on the pint labels made me laugh.

Now, what to do with this last pint of strawberries? One of my favorite things to make with fresh strawberries is a British dessert called a "fool." I love British dessert (or "pudding") names: syllabubs, fools, whim whams. Why don't we have names like that?

A fool is simply macerated fruit (that is, fruit softened after being mixed with sugar) swirled into whipped cream - it MUST be homemade whipped cream rather than any non-dairy product. Quite luxurious and simple, and devastatingly bad for you!

But, although I will miss summer's abundance, fall desserts and fruits have a charm all their own.

Here are some apples, baked with dark chocolate at their cores and sprinkled with cinnamon - an idea I got from Martha's site. Definitely autumn comfort food.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I remember my mom making fools when I was younger - I always liked them a lot. Homegrown American desserts seem to have much ... earthier ... names, alas - cobblers, grunts and slumps. The latter are actually pretty tasty, but the names - I'm not sure what their creators were thinking. "Hey kids, we're having a grunt for dessert!"

- Marian