THE LONE RIPE BLACKBERRY

This week in the world of seasonal fruit I’ve got a bumper crop of blackberries. The largest of all wild berries, blackberries have long been both treasured and trashed. Give me a bowl of these dazzling, violet-black orbs and I’ll rave about their gorgeous color, plump shape and tartly sweet, purplish juice. Invite me to pick and eat them from a backyard copse and I’ll grumble about their brutally thorny, trailing vines that leave my fingers bloody and their copious seeds that wedge in between every tooth. I’m not the least bit surprised that the British have dubbed this fruit “bramble.” This is one prickly drupe.

BLACKBERRY FOOL

In spite of its drawbacks I do adore blackberries. Along with consuming them straight from the stem I like to feature them in a fool. A classic British dessert, a fool is as simple as its name sounds; it consists of mashed raw or cooked fruit folded into homemade whipped cream. Spoon this concoction into delicate, etched glasses or bowls and you have the elegant and ethereal English sweet.
In the UK fools usually contain berries—gooseberries, raspberries or strawberries—or rhubarb or plums. My fruit of choice generally gets reserved for apple and blackberry pie, blackberry jelly or blackberry tea. In the case of the tea it is the plant’s leaves and not the fruit that are used. Nonetheless, I find that the blackberry’s beautiful color and piquant flavor do well in a fool.

BOWL OF RIPE BLACKBERRIES

Blackberries are in season from June to September. When selecting them, I look for berries possessing a deep, rich color, firm but not hard texture and clean appearance. Highly perishable, they should be consumed immediately. If you refrigerate them, use them within a day.

Unlike my previous farm-procured offerings, I plucked my fool’s berries from the produce stand across the street from my Upper West Side apartment. I later braved the thicket at my friends’ Frank and Jane’s farm and collected another cup or so of the fruit. Surprisingly, the differences between cultivated and wild were few. Although larger in size, the commercially produced blackberries possessed the same bright flavor as their wild counterparts.

BLACKBERRY FOOL
Serves 4

2 1/2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the blackberries, half of the sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and stir to combine. Allow the berries to sit for at least 15 minutes, stirring periodically, until they have released some of their juices.

Put half of the berries in the bowl of a blender or food processor and puree. Pour the puree over the whole berries and stir the mixture together.

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks form. Add the remaining sugar and vanilla extract and continue beating until stiff peaks take shape. At this point fold in the berries. Because I prefer a dryer fool, I strain off and reserve most of the juice and just add the berries and strained puree to the whipped cream. I later drizzle the juice over the individual servings of fool.

If you’re serving this right away, spoon equal amounts of fool into 4 bowls. Otherwise, cover and refrigerate the fool until ready to serve. Note that, when refrigerated, the fool will keep its shape for 2 to 3 hours. Make and serve accordingly.