This is a punchy dessert. It’s exactly like the lady that I want to be when I grow up. At first it seems quite demure. Faintly coquettish and sweet. You might think it’s even a little shy. But then, the party gets going. Suddenly you spy her across the room, and she’s laughing her ass off in a crowd full of friends. That baby-doll dress she was wearing is suddenly a little less sunday school student, and a little more go-go dancer. You notice the heel on her boots, and the gleam in her eye. She’s not what you expected. 
Before the night is over, she’s the one who always seemed to be where the drinks were flowing, where the laughs were the loudest, and the dancing the craziest. She’s smack bang in the thick of things with a fringe that somehow never looked out of place, and eyeliner in that perfect cat-eye formation all night long. Impressive, mystery girl, you think to yourself. Very impressive. She seems to radiate wit and poise and is it just my eyes, or is she even giving off a faint golden glow? No, she couldn’t be… it must be a trick of the light. 
This mystery woman has the grace and charm and sensuality of my guru Nigella Lawson (who my thoughts are with right now), and the vivacity and lust for life of Vince Vaughan circa Wedding Crashers. She’s telling jokes in Japanese with a bunch of Salarymen in Tokyo. She’s entertaining dignitaries in Paris, serving perfectly cooked Cote de Boeuf with a delicately balanced bearnaise sauce. She’s dancing a strangely compelling flamenco at the backyard barbecue of your friend from Barcelona, and totally pulling it off. 
But I have no qualms in admitting that I’m several years, a couple of trips around the world and about 10 kilos away from being that girl. Not to mention the shopping that’s going to need to go into it. Which is where this fool comes in. Because this fool is like the dessert embodiment of that girl. It’s about as flexible and adaptable as a Woman of Mystery needs to be. The rhubarb and ginger compote is dark, warm and spicy with ginger and fragrant with the almost bubble-gum scent of rhubarb. A healthy dose of vanilla bean paste adds a richness, fullness and creaminess, before the cream even comes anywhere near it. 
The yoghurt cream is sweet and ethereally light; it’s not just a simple sweetened whipped cream. Like our Woman of Mystery this cream is not always as it seems. The heavy cream provides the base layer of rich dairy while a healthy dose of thick greek yoghurt adds sourness, lightness and complexity. The two kinds of dairy are sweetened with honey – one of my favourite sweeteners, and a perfect match for rhubarb – before being whipped up into a veritable cloud of deliciousness. Layer up the rhubarb compote with the whipped yoghurt cream, and you have a dessert that is not only delicious, but gorgeous to look at and full of unexpected surprises on the tongue. 
Rhubarb Ginger and Yoghurt Fool
INGREDIENTS: 300g rhubarb
4 pieces stem ginger in syrup
1tsp vanilla bean paste
50-75g raw sugar
250ml heavy cream
150ml thick greek yoghurt
honey, to taste First, make the rhubarb and ginger compote. Trim and slice the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and finely chop the stem ginger. Place the rhubarb, ginger, vanilla, 50g of sugar and a splash of water into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook the rhubarb until it completely breaks down, and the juices are thick and syrupy. Taste to see if the mixture is sweet enough for your taste, trying to make sure you maintain that nice sour edge. Place the compote in the fridge to cool completely. TIP: this is a delicious quick-time jam hack, and it is awesome on scones/biscuits. In a large bowl combine the cream, yoghurt and about 2 teaspoons of honey. Different kinds of honey have varying levels of intensity, so at this point it’s important to taste and add just enough honey so that you can taste it, but still retain the flavour of the yoghurt. Once perfected, whip the yoghurt cream until soft peaks form. In your serving vessel of choice, layer up the rhubarb compote and yoghurt cream, before chilling in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. Mystery woman approved.
Sold! Described it so well, so fantastically I would have devoured it on the spot without the gorgeous photos! I want to be that girl too…
Wow, thanks Maria! She sounds amazing right?
If I made this, there probably wouldn’t be anything to plate up as I’d have eaten it all while ‘tasting’ it.
Bahaha – will power is over-rated.
Oh I’d love to be that girl too but in the meantime I may just need to make this instead ;D
Near enough is good enough, I say.
Great idea lightening it up with Greek yogurt! This would be lovely :)
Thanks Lorraine. :)
We seem to have quite similar persona aspirations. Not sure that I’ll ever quite attain them, but maybe with one of these fools in hand…
I think a lOt of people share this aspiration. Maybe we’ll all get there!
Beautiful recipe.. I would just stare at it and admire!
It is pretty mesmerizing with all the swirls!
Dudee, pics are awesome! My fav is the rhubarb bubbling away in the saucepan. Looks so delish!
Cheers Ainz! So much easier now I can shoot during the day. Freedom!
Wow – I want to know this lady…urm…I mean, dessert :) It looks and sounds phenomenal!
Thanks Jennifer. :)
Everything about this makes me yearn more for rhubarb! Delish!
Rhubarb is gorgeous, isn’t it?
I LOVE how you described this dessert in the form of a woman. Your writing made a wonderful visual image!
Also, that picture of the rhubarb in the saucepan makes me want to eat this sooooo bad!
Thanks Shelly! :)
I love this! You and I are rhubarb twins this week–high five! I bought a ton of extra rhubarb and have it waiting in the freezer for the perfect recipe–I think these fools need to be on the menu!
PS What’s going on with Nigella??
AND we both have sugar in our blOg titles! We are twins fo sho.
Re: Nigella, there have been some pictures in the news of what looks like her husband being awful to her (physically) in public. Not good at all, she really is a hero of mine.
Beautiful sounding flavours and I just love rhubarb and its gorgeous colour. It looks soo pretty swirled with this yoghurt!
Thanks Christine!
I’m a sucker for rhubarb, this fool is SO pretty! love the addition of yogurt!
Oh cool, thanks Cindy! The yoghurt adds lightness and interest.
She sounds spectacular… just like this dessert. Beautiful read and gorgeous dessert.
Thanks Amanda!
i pitty the fool who wouldn’t want to eat this!
Lmao.
Must flamenco myself to the fridge and spoon some strawberry rhubarb jam into my mouth…..mmmm. Such inspiration! :)
Absolutely love the way you write, absolutely loved this post…..it made me want to start writing again (and I’ve been on a blog hiatus for a while, just not feeling it and being mojo-less……)….thank you! I am so pleased i found your blog (love your recipes, but it’s your *writing* i’ll be back for….! Thank you!
Thanks Helen – this means so much to me. You’ve inspired me to try even harder to make each post just…better I guess! I get so caught up, so busy sometimes that I can’t always put the time into each piece that I want to, but it’s so important to me. Thanks for the reminder. xx
We can’t get stem ginger in Canada. What do you recommend we substitute (if possible)?