Simple Raspberry Fool

5 from 1 vote

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A simple, pretty, 4-ingredient summer dessert that doesn't require turning on the oven — now that's beautiful.

Simple Raspberry Fool / Photo by Cheyenne Cohen / Katie Workman / themom100.com

Creamy, chilled raspberry fool is a dazzling dessert, but it’s SO easy to make! It’s as simple as pureeing berries and whipping cream, then folding them together. The dessert contains just only four ingredients! Plus, a summery dessert that doesn’t require turning on the oven is just a marvel. This berry treat is creamy and pink and sweet and light and delicate.

This raspberry fool takes about 15 minutes of hands-on time and can either be served right away or held in the refrigerator for several hours. And if you keep frozen berries on hand, you can make this any time of the year.

If you want to offer your guests a little one-two mousse/fool punch, it would be amazing to present a selection of small bowls of raspberry fool and chocolate mousse to choose from or share!

Eating fresh berry-topped raspberry fool with spoon.

Raspberry Fool: A simple, pretty, creamy 4-ingredient summer dessert that doesn’t require turning on the oven – now that’s beautiful.

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Raspberry Fool Ingredients

  • Frozen raspberries – You want them to be cold but not frozen solid.
  • Lemon juice – Using fresh lemon juice really brightens this recipe. The gentle acidity heightens the flavor of the berries and balances out the richness of the cream.
  • Sugar – Part of the sugar is used to sweeten the raspberry purée, and the other part sweetens the whipped cream.
  • Heavy cream – Gets whipped up light and fluffy to form the base of this dessert.
  • Berries – I used raspberries, but strawberries, blackberries, or blueberries are excellent alternatives.

Using Frozen Berries for Raspberry Fool

Sure, you could use fresh berries here. But frozen berries also work really well because:

  • They purée up really easily because they are already kind of macerating in their own juices when you thaw them.
  • They are often less expensive than fresh berries.
  • They are perfect in this recipe because you want the fruit purée very cold when you fold it into the whipped cream. Moving the berries from the freezer to the fridge the night before makes this happen beautifully.
  • You can keep them on hand at all times.
Three glass dishes filled with raspberry fool on table with spoons and napkin.

How to Make Easy Raspberry Fool

  1. Purée: Place the thawed frozen raspberries or fresh berries in a food processor with half of the sugar and lemon juice and blend until smooth.
  2. Whip the cream: Combine the heavy cream with the remaining sugar and whip until it holds stiff peaks.
Homemade whipped cream in bowl with mixer.
  1. Combine: Fold the raspberry purée into the whipped cream, being careful not to mix all the air out of it. Distribute the fool into cups and refrigerate or serve immediately. Top with berries to serve!
Woman scooping raspberry fool with fresh berries using spoon.

FAQs

Why is my raspberry fool liquid?

If your raspberry fool is too thin, it is likely that you did not whip your cream for long enough. A soft peak whipped cream will not hold up very well against the raspberry purée. Alternatively, you may have overmixed the fool, meaning that the whipped cream was over-stirred with the berries and deflated.

How long can I keep raspberry fool?

Since whipped cream is quite delicate, raspberry fool will only last a few hours in the fridge before serving. Leftovers may last until the next day, but they could begin to weep and become liquidy. I recommend making it on the day you plan to serve it.

What is a dessert fool?

According to the erratic web research I did, there’s really no good consensus on this term. The general belief is that the name comes from the French verb fouler, which means to crush or press. One other thought is that because the two desserts — fool and trifle — are somewhat similar, the meanings of their names are also related.
And finally, according to Joy of Cooking, apparently long, long ago, the word “fool” was “a term of endearment,” and the dessert dates back at least to the 16th century…and I don’t know exactly how the dots get connected there. In the end, it’s not clear, but we’ll have to live with that.

Raspberry Fool Tips

  • Don’t over-beat the whipped cream, or it will turn into butter. Stop just when you reach the stage where the peaks of the cream stand up when you pull away the whisk from the bowl and barely curl over at the tips.
  • Don’t feel like you have to blend the pureed berries and the whipped cream fully. A raspberry fool partially folded together with streaks of white and pink is very pretty, and it allows the whipped cream to remain very fluffy.
  • Fold in the whipped cream in batches, scraping the bottom of the bowl to incorporate the whipped cream and berries gently (you literally should think of it as gently folding the bottom of the mixture over the top, over and over). This is different from stirring or beating, which would deflate the whipped cream. Adding the whipped cream slowly helps keep the mixture light and fluffy.
  • Finally, I had one left that wasn’t going to get eaten within the day. I froze it, and boy was that an absolutely amazing new frozen dessert in my life. Highly recommended!

What to Serve with Raspberry Fool

Simple Raspberry Fool  in glass dish.

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5 from 1 vote

Simple Raspberry Fool

A simple, pretty, 4-ingredient summer dessert that doesn't require turning on the oven — now that's beautiful.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 6 Servings

Ingredients 

  • 1 (12-ounce) package frozen raspberries (thawed but cold)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • cup sugar (divided)
  • 1 ½ cups heavy cream
  • Fresh berries (to serve; optional)

Instructions 

  • Puree the raspberries with the lemon juice and 1/3 cup of the sugar in a blender or food processor.
  • In a medium bowl, whip the cream with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar just until it holds stiff peaks. Gently fold in the raspberry mixture, starting with 1/4 of the mixture, then folding in another 1/4, then folding in the remaining half very gently. Adding the whipped cream slowly helps keep the mixture light and fluffy.
  • Scoop the mixture into 6 6-ounce cups, filling each partway full. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Top each serving with berries, if desired.

Notes

  • Don’t over-beat the whipped cream, or it will turn into butter. Stop just when you reach the stage where the peaks of the cream stand up when you pull away the whisk from the bowl and barely curl over at the tips.
  • Adding the whipped cream slowly helps keep the mixture light and fluffy.
  • This can be refrigerated for about 4 hours before serving. Try freezing the fools for a frozen fool variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 321.13kcal, Carbohydrates: 30.76g, Protein: 1.91g, Fat: 22.39g, Saturated Fat: 13.71g, Cholesterol: 81.52mg, Sodium: 23.42mg, Potassium: 130.24mg, Fiber: 3.69g, Sugar: 24.79g, Vitamin A: 893.36IU, Vitamin C: 15.86mg, Calcium: 52.85mg, Iron: 0.39mg
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About Katie Workman

Katie Workman is a cook, a writer, a mother of two, an activist in hunger issues, and an enthusiastic advocate for family meals, which is the inspiration behind her two beloved cookbooks, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.

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