One of Mark’s favourite deserts in the UK is gooseberry fool. Apparently the first known use of the word for this desert goes back as far as the late 1500’s. Traditionally a fruit fool was made with custard, but more often now it is simply made with whipped cream. That’s exactly what I had in mind when making this. Sadly though, there’s not much else to it other than the fruit and lots of cream. I debated long and hard whether I should even post this mango fool recipe, but then I thought that “a little of what you fancy does you good” So…..as with all things creative, a new recipe category was born, “Pagan Delights!” In fairness, that title came up a few years ago when I was thinking of a book of recipes, and our friends Alison and John were visiting. I made a decadent dinner in amid all the Sun Temple stuff and we had a laugh coming up with that title. It was to be the decadent chapter in the book, and now it will be the decadent recipe category.
The mango fool recipe
500ml fresh mango flesh
thumb of ginger grated
juice of 2 limes
500ml whipping cream
Blend the mango with the ginger and lime until it is smooth. Whip the cream until it is quite stiff and then gently fold in the mango concoction.
The shortbread
175g (6oz) butter
85g (3oz) caster sugar (fine white)
225g (8oz) plain flour
2 tbsp dried pink peppercorns crushed
brown sugar for sprinkling
Place the butter, sugar and flour in the food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together. Add the pink peppercorns (available at the supermarkets in SLU, and widely in the UK) and pulse once more. Remove the mixture, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for an hour or until you are ready to deal with it.
Pre heat the oven to 150ºC (300ºF). Roll out on a lightly dusted surface and cut as per the photo. Sprinkle with the brown sugar. Bake for 35- 40 minutes or until looking a bit brownish and dryer than when they went in. I was able to store these in an airtight container for a week in the fridge as the recipe makes more than you need for the fool.
6 Comments
Debbie
August 19, 2014 at 3:39 pmPeppercorns huh?? interesting flavors for the palate.
Germaine
August 20, 2014 at 6:44 amVery interesting, and perfect with the sweetness of the mango…
Linda
August 26, 2014 at 12:53 amGermaine, I’m dying to make this but can’t find any Pink Peppercorns. I’m going to ask Michele to bring some from the UK next month but could you describe the flavour for me please.
Germaine
August 26, 2014 at 1:03 pmIt tastes like the regular black ones except much milder and they grind up more easily. Can you get the red ones?
Reena
September 6, 2015 at 5:17 pmThis looks absolutely delicious and amazingly straight forward, I’ll definitely give it a go!
Germaine
September 6, 2015 at 5:45 pmThanks so much Reena. It was lovely meeting you….