Clementine Fool

An easy and delicious dessert for the holidays, a dinner party, or any time you want light and pretty on your table. Because it requires chilling time, its obviously perfect when you need to make ahead. As always, we’ve included substitutions to make this gluten and dairy free. We used fresh Clementine juice but you can use orange juice in a pinch. This recipe would work well with blood oranges, too, Serve in a pretty bowl, parfait glasses, or even tiny cordial glasses for a miniature sweet.

Ingredients

4 large fresh eggs

3/4 cup of sugar

3/4 cup of clementine juice or orange juice

2 cups of heavy cream or thick oat creamer or other heavy non dairy creamer

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

4-5 clementines, peeled, segmented, and roughly chopped

Optional – extra whipping cream or commercial whipped cream or dairy free whipped cream for topping the fool.

Directions

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until they are lighter in color. Add the juice and whisk until fully combined. Add the sugar and spices and whisk again until combined.

In a saucepan over medium/low heat, bring the cream to just below the boiling point. Stir fairly constantly to preventing burning on the bottom, and do not let the cream boil.

Temper the eggs. Whisking constantly, slowly add a ladleful – half a cup or so – of the hot cream to the egg mixture. Don’t stop stirring until it is fully incorporated or you risk curdling the eggs and causing lumps in your custard. You can salvage curdled custard by putting it through a sieve, but this is less than ideal. Add the rest of the egg mixture to the custard and continue to cook the custard, stirring, over low heat until it thickens

Remove the custard from heat and allow it to cool for an hour or so. Mix in the chopped clementines and dish the custard into dessert dishes or a large serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.

Add whipped cream to the top of the fool and garnish with orange zest, candied citron peel, or even clementine segments and rosemary or other edible greenery. Serve and enjoy!