Make ahead dessert: April Bloomfield's rhubarb fool
A couple of Sundays ago, I was invited to a glorious run-through of the contemporary music pianist Gloria Cheng would be playing at a concert on the East Coast the next week. It began at 6 p.m. at the new Steinway Piano Gallery in Pasadena and I’d invited friends to dinner after the concert. Since I had no idea when we’d be finished, I had to make everything ahead — fried chicken, coleslaw, succotash — and for dessert, rhubarb fool.
I’d bought some rhubarb at the farmers market intending to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie. But in the end, felt like trying something new, namely this recipe from April Bloomfield (Spotted Pig, the Breslin Bar & Dining Room and the John Dory Oyster Bar in New York). The Brits really know how to do these kinds of desserts, and this recipe from her new cookbook is a keeper — easy, meant to be prepared ahead and delicious.
You can make the rhubarb the day before and then layer it in the glasses with the cardamom cream and pistachios hours before you’ll be eating to give it all a good chill. The cardamom is brilliant with the rhubarb (which is also dosed with a little rose water), giving the sweet a Middle Eastern harem vibe.
One note: I divided the recipe into six servings and still had half the cream left over. No matter, I served it the next day with ripe fresh figs.
You might want to halve the amount of rose water, too, depending on your taste.
Rhubarb Fool with Cardamom Cream and Pistachios (adapted from “A Girl and Her Pig: Recipes and Stories” by April Bloomfield, Ecco Press, 2012, 333 pgs, $29.99). Follow the jump for the recipe.
