Blackberry Fool with Hazelnut Biscuits

A delicate British dessert of whipped cream blended with yogurt and fragrant blackberry purée — light, fruity, and refreshing. Served with crumbly hazelnut biscuits that beg to be dipped into the creamy swirls.

Ingredients

• 50 g Hazelnuts
• 125 g Butter
• 150 g Icing sugar
• 1 pcs Lemon
• 150 g Wheat flour
• 0.5 tsp Baking powder
• 600 g Blackberries
• 75 g Sugar
• 2 tbsp Icing sugar
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 300 ml Heavy cream
• 100 ml Natural yogurt
• Fresh mint

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C with fan). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread the hazelnuts on one of them and roast in the oven for 6–8 minutes until the nuts turn golden. Watch them carefully to prevent burning. Remove from the oven, transfer to a board, and let cool completely.
2. Beat the butter with icing sugar using a wooden spoon until you have a light and fluffy mixture. Roughly chop the cooled hazelnuts and add them to the butter mixture along with the lemon zest, flour, and baking powder. Mix until the dough comes together into a ball — use your hands to help if needed.
3. Divide the dough into 24 equal portions and roll into balls. Place them on the prepared baking sheets with plenty of space between them — they will spread during baking. Gently flatten each ball to approximately 1 cm thick.
4. Bake the biscuits one sheet at a time for 12 minutes until pale golden. Leave to cool directly on the baking sheet — they will be very soft from the oven but will harden as they cool. Store the finished biscuits in an airtight tin; consume within five days.
5. Rinse the blackberries in a colander. Transfer to a non-stick saucepan, sprinkle with icing sugar, pour in the lemon juice, and warm over low heat for 2 minutes until the berries begin to release their juice. Set aside 12 beautiful berries for decoration and continue cooking the rest.
6. Reduce the heat to minimum and simmer the blackberries for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the berries become completely soft. Remove from heat and press the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, using the back of a ladle to help extract as much purée as possible — discard the seeds. You should have approximately 325 ml of purée. Let it cool completely.
7. Pour the cream and yogurt into a large bowl and whip with an electric mixer until soft peaks form — the mixture should hold its shape but remain delicate. Do not overbeat: the acidity of the blackberry purée will further thicken the cream.
8. Taste the cooled purée and add a little sugar if desired. Pour the purée into the bowl with the cream mixture and fold together just 1–2 times — the dessert should look marbled with beautiful blackberry ribbons running through it. Divide the fool into wide glass bowls or coupes. Decorate with the reserved blackberries and mint leaves, and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar if you wish. Serve with the hazelnut biscuits.