A RHUBARB FOOL

Our Finished Strawberry Rhubarb Fool with a Smokey Twist!

Strawberry Rhubarb Fool–Fresh rhubarb means great recipes most of which consist of dessert! This one is no exception. Not only am I going to use smoked rhubarb but I’m including smoked strawberry as well.

This is the SmokinLicious® version of the Strawberry-Rhubarb Fool a popular dessert in late Spring and Early Summer. Our creamy version is taking on a new flavor as we add another element: smoked components. That means you need to smoke the rhubarb and strawberries first, before you make our recipe. You can find our tips on smoking the strawberries and the rhubarb on our Tips and Techniques Blog. Don’t be scared! These are simple techniques you can do on any type of equipment including with a hand held food smoker.

Get smoking your fresh strawberries and rhubarb and then, let’s make the sweetest, creamiest strawberry-rhubarb fool smoker’s style!

Tame Those Flavors

I find it easiest to work with rhubarb and strawberries when they are cut down in size after the smoking. For me, rhubarb cut into 3-inch lengths and strawberries sliced thin work best for this recipe. Don’t forget to keep any of the juice that comes off the smoked strawberries both during the smoking process and as you prepare the strawberries.

The combination of the tart rhubarb and the sweetness of the strawberry plus the smoky quality from both will produce a perfect balance. Let’s get these two flavors combined to make the perfect fool.

Since rhubarb borders on the bitter, it needs to have some additional sweet added to it. Place your smoked rhubarb cuts which equal about one pound, into a saucepan and add a ½ cup of sugar. Heat on medium high. While that is sweetening and tenderizing, place the smoked strawberries (about 8-10 ounces depending on the size) into a bowl and add ¼ cup sugar, allowing this to dissolve completely. This process will take about 30 minutes. Feel free to adjust the level of sugar in the strawberries based on the sweetness you feel the raw strawberry already presents with as well as your own personal preference.

Once the sugar has dissolved in the smoked strawberries and the rhubarb has begun to shred apart, it’s time to remove the rhubarb from the heat. Stir in the sweetened smoked strawberries and transfer to a bowl. Refrigerate this compote uncovered until cold. This will take about 1-1/2 hours though I prefer to leave this overnight. Once the compote is in the refrigerator, place a metal bowl in the refrigerator as well. You will need this to produce the trademark cream-base for our fool dessert.

Tasting Notes: Some find the texture of tenderized rhubarb to be too stringy. If that’s the case, feel free to process the rhubarb in a food processor or blender before combining with the macerated strawberries. Also, depending on the size of the strawberries, you may prefer to leave larger chunks, by halving the berries rather than slicing.

 Making a Fool for Me!

Time to remove the chilled metal bowl from the refrigerator and add ¾ cup heavy cream and 1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar. Whisk this together until soft peaks form. Be sure you don’t over beat the mixture or you will lose all the air that makes this whipped cream. Set aside 1/3 cup of the cold smoked compote which will be used for topping the finished dessert servings. Take the rest of the compote and fold into the whipped cream just until the mixture looks streaky. Spoon into serving glasses or bowls and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Whenever I need a simple and quick dessert that looks elegant, I love to make a fool. If I’m serving a more formal event, I prefer to serve these in stemmed glasses like a martini glass. For a family barbeque or daily dessert, small bowls work well or even clear throw away cups or bowls. Once the cream and compote mixture are spooned into the serving vessel, top with about a tablespoon of reserved compote. I prefer to add mint leaves to finish this off. Strawberry-Rhubarb Smoked Fool – a simple yet elegant looking treat that everyone is going to love!

Tasting Notes: Here’s a tip: this can be served cold or you can freeze it for a super cold treat on a really hot day. The frozen rendition will remind you of a semifreddo or frozen yogurt treat.

What’s your favorite fool recipe? Leave us a comment to opine and subscribe to get all our postings on tips, techniques and recipes. Bringing innovation to wood fired cooking with recipes, techniques and the science behind the fire, smoke, and flavor. That’s SmokinLicious®.