Rhubarb and Orange Fool is a sweet creamy dessert made with roasted rhubarb, whipped cream with a hint of orange zest. It’s a super easy recipe and the perfect make-ahead dessert for summer entertaining.
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What is rhubarb?
Rhubarb is a hardy perennial plant with pink, red or pale green stems that are most often used in desserts like crumbles and pies.
It has a tart flavour and is too sharp to eat raw, but combined with sugar and other ingredients it has a delicious tangy taste.
How do you grow rhubarb?
Rhubarb is grown from a crown. This is a thick rhizome which is planted just below the surface of the soil.
Rhubarb plants like lots of moisture and you need to mulch the plant to keep it from getting too dry.
When is rhubarb in season?
The best rhubarb is available in Spring. The earliest rhubarb you can buy is forced, this means it has been grown in the dark Forced rhubarb has pale pink stems and is tender and sweet.
Rhubarb continues to grow throughout the summer but as the season progresses the stems become tougher.
My garden rhubarb
I have several well-established crowns of rhubarb in my garden. They have been in the garden for at least 50 years and pop up every year providing lots of delicious rhubarb stalks.
Why do we call this dessert a Fool?
The term ‘fool’ is first recorded in the book The Compleat Cook published in 1658 where there is a recipe for Gooseberry Fool.
The most likely derivation of the name is from the French word ‘fouler’ which means to mash or to press. The fruit for a fool is pureed and this would originally have been achieved with a sieve.
Rhubarb Fool is one of the most popular cold desserts using rhubarb. Rhubarb and Orange Fool adds the extra zing of fresh orange and orange zest to this creamy dessert recipe.
How to make Rhubarb and Orange Fool
Roast the Rhubarb
Cut the rhubarb into even-sized pieces and place in an ovenproof dish. Add the orange juice and half the zest. Roat for about 10 minutes until tender. Leave to cool.
Make the Orange Zest garnish
Place the remaining strands of orange zest into a pan and cover with water. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the sugar and continue to simmer gently until the liquid becomes syrupy.
Remove the orange zest and place on baking parchment to dry.
Whip the Cream
Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks. You can whip the cream by hand with a whisk or use an electric mixer.
Make the Rhubarb Puree
Blend the rhubarb pieces with some of the orange juice liquid in the roasting dish. If you don’t have a blender you can push the softened rhubarb through a non-metallic sieve and add a little the liquid to the puree.
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Combine the Rhubarb and Cream
Gently fold the rhubarb mixture into the cream with a metal spoon.
Top Tip
If your fool is lacking a pink colour add a drop of red food colouring or half a teaspoon of beetroot powder.
Serving Suggestion
Serve in individual glass bowls or glasses decorated with the sugared strips of orange zest.
More Rhubarb Recipes from Farmersgirl Kitchen
Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars are a delicious combination of flavours and textures. Top the oaty base with a rich, smooth baked cheesecake layered with pieces of tart, roasted rhubarb, and even more rhubarb puree swirled on top. They are absolutely delicious.
Peach and Rhubarb Upside Down Cake is really moist and the perfect ‘pudding cake’. Serve warm or cold as a dessert with cream, yoghurt, custard or ice-cream. It is also just as nice as a slice of cake with a cup of tea or coffee.
Rhubarb and Ginger Trifles are a rhubarb recipe you can make with only two stalks of rhubarb so you can create a delicious creamy dessert that will feed four people.
More Rhubarb Recipes
Warming Rhubarb Pudding from Fab Food 4 All
Celebratory Champagne Syllabub with Orange Rhubarb Compote from Tin & Thyme
Roasted Rhubarb Ice Cream from Curly’s Cooking
For even more rhubarb recipes follow my Rhubarb Pinterest Board
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Rhubarb and Orange Fool
Ingredients
- 450 g rhubarb
- 1 orange zest and juice
- 100 g caster sugar
- 300 ml double cream
- 1 drop of red food colouring paste optional
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 160C
- Wash the rhubarb and cut into even sized pieces and place in a single layer in a non metal ovenproof dish, add the orange juice and half the zest..
- Roast the rhubarb in the oven for about 10 minutes, until a knife slips easily into a piece of rhubarb, but before the rhubarb starts to disintegrate. Leave to cool.
- Place the remaining strands of orange zest in a small pan and just cover with water. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add a tbsp of sugar and continue to simmer until the liquid becomes syrupy. Remove the sugared orange zest and place on baking parchment to dry.
- Whip the cream until it holds soft peaks.
- Once cold, you can either blend the rhubarb and juice until smooth or push through a non-metallic sieve.
- Fold the rhubarb mixture into the cream, cutting through gently with a metal spoon, add the colouring if using*.
- Serve chilled in individual glass bowls decorated with the sugared strips of zest.
I’ve had gooseberry fool before but never rhubarb fool! Great idea 🙂 it looks delicious!
Thanks Emma, it’s much the same process and gooseberries, like rhubarb, are acidic so work really well with the cream.
Rhubarb and orange work so well together. I can’t believe how simple this fool is to make too, lovely!
Thanks Jemma, yes really simple to make.
I love rhubarb, but oddly tend to just stew it and eat it like that. I’d not thought of making a fool with it, and generally love fool recipes. Right, I’m off to have a go with the batch my Mother-in-Law gave me at the weekend.
As we grow it in the garden, I am always looking for different ways to eat rhubarb, Penelope. Enjoy!
I love a fool! This rhubarb infused one sounds very tasty indeed X
Thanks Stuart, creamy summer fools are soooo good ☺️
This looks lovely and summery – Our rhubarb was really fragrant this year!
Thanks Heidi, yes it has been a good year for rhubarb.
I have never combined these two ingredients but looks like they work well together.
They definitely do Nayna, thanks
I’ve been admiring the wonderful colour of your rhubarb fool and now I know the secret. The sludgy colour rhubarb can go is not the most appealing. Your recipe sounds delicious, although it’s so cold here at the moment, I’m rather fancying rhubarb crumble 😉
ha ha, yes I cheated with the colour. As you say sludgy green is not the most appealing, it didn’t take much gel colour to make it pink. Generally I don’t like to colour my recipes but in this case it was definitely worth it, we do eat with our eyes! Freezing here today too.
Rhubarb and cream sounds absolutely delightful. I noticed yesterday our rhubarb was just starting to show, so I’m getting excited we might actually be able to harvest some this year. It’s been a few years now since we had our own.
Our rhubarb is also just starting to show, it soon comes up once the temperature starts to rise and it does like to be well watered which hasn’t been a problem this year!