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Blackberry Borage Fool

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A fool is a simple, old-fashioned English dessert made with fruit folded into whipped cream. It is so light you could fool yourself into thinking it has no calories at all, and the layers of flavors are complex enough that it is satisfying without being filling. British accent is optional.

Cooks' Note

To use borage flowers, first pluck the flower from the plant at the base of its stem. Then wash and dry the flowers and, using a thumb and forefinger, gently tug at one of the five blue petals. The blue flower should easily come apart from its hairy green star-shaped receptacle.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup borage flowers, plus extra for garnish
4 cups fresh blackberries, divided
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger (from about 1/2 inch fresh ginger root)
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    1. Put heavy cream and borage flowers in a covered container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. In a bowl, combine 2 cups of the blackberries with lime juice and ginger and let them infuse for the same amount of time as the cream.

    Step 2

    2. Mash the blackberry mixture by hand or in a food processor.

    Step 3

    3. Strain borage-infused cream through a fine-mesh strainer and discard the solids. Combine with confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a mixer, and whip on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, or until cream is soft and billowy, but firm. Reserve a small amount for garnish, if desired.

    Step 4

    4. Gently fold blackberry mash into borage cream. Divide the remaining 2 cups of blackberries between four tall cups or parfait glasses and top with the borage blackberry cream. Garnish with reserved borage cream, if desired, and borage flowers.

Reprinted with permission from Cooking with Flowers: Sweet and Savory Recipes with Rose Petals, Lilacs, Lavender, and Other Edible Flowers by Miche Bacher; photography by Miana Jun. Copyright © 2013 by Miche Bacher; photographs © 2013 by Quirk Productions, Inc. Published by Quirk Books.
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