Chocolate Raspberry Fool

My fool doesn't look like everyone else's. Check out Google images. My cloud of raspberry and chocolate-ribboned whipped cream isn't delicately layered into a fancy parfait glass and festooned. It's not coiffed, styled or fancified. It's very simply spooned into a lowball glass and topped with little cookies. Each whimsical spoonful delivers a fluffy blend of sweetened whipped cream, chocolate fudge, fresh raspberries, and raspberry preserves (with a little cookie crunch). I don't care what it looks like, it melts your heart.

Turns out, MY fool looks more traditional than those fancy, styled parfaits you see on Google. A "fool" isn't really a parfait; it's whipped cream, lightly sweetened and gently streaked with macerated fruit. I take that back - the TRADITIONAL fool is an English dessert, and it involves folding stewed fruit into sweet, creamy custard. Not whipped cream. And that traditional fruit is gooseberries! Check Google images for THAT ONE... Not really that pretty. Sorry, but with a name like "gooseberries"... what did we expect?

Joking. Clearly. Sort of. I still think my fool is the best on the planet. And I know you will too. Oh, and the addition of chocolate fudge? There is NOTHING traditional about that. But I don't think you'll mind. If you do, send me an email. I'll be waiting.

Chocolate Raspberry Fool

1 cup fresh raspberries
2 tablespoons raspberry preserves or raspberry jam
2 cups cold heavy cream or whipping cream (cold cream whips up better)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons chocolate fudge sauce (sold with the ice cream toppings)
Small cookies for garnish, optional

In small bowl, combine the raspberries and raspberry preserves and use a fork to mash them together. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream and powdered sugar. Whip on high speed until soft peaks form.
Add the raspberry mixture and fudge sauce to the whipped cream and fold a few times with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is streaky. Be careful not to overmix. If you do, just call it pudding.
Gently spoon the mixture into glasses and top with cookies.

Serves 4