Instruction

• For the biscuits, preheat the oven to 200C/180C (fan)/Gas 6 and line two large baking trays with baking parchment
• Scatter the nuts over a baking tray and roast in the oven for 6-8 minutes, or until golden-brown
• Watch them carefully so that they don’t have a chance to burn
• Remove from the oven, tip onto a board and leave to cool
• Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until light and creamy
• Roughly chop the cooled nuts and add to the creamed butter and sugar, along with the lemon zest, flour and baking powder
• Stir well until the mixture comes together and forms a ball – you may need to use your hands
• Divide the biscuit dough into 24 even pieces and roll into small balls
• Place the balls the prepared baking trays, spaced well apart to allow for spreading
• Press the biscuits to flatten to around 1cm/½in thick
• Bake the biscuits, one tray at a time, for 12 minutes or until very pale golden-brown
• Leave to cool on the trays
• They will be very soft when you take them out of the oven, but will crisp as they cool
• Store in an airtight tin and eat within five days
• For the fool, rinse the blackberries in a colander to wash away any dust or dirt
• Put the blackberries in a non-stick saucepan and sprinkle over the caster sugar
• Stir in the lemon juice and heat gently for two minutes, or until the blackberries begin to soften and release their juices
• Remove and reserve 12 blackberries for decoration and continue cooking the rest
• Simmer the blackberries very gently for 15 minutes, stirring regularly until very soft and squidgy
• Remove from the heat and press the berries and juice through a sieve over a bowl, using the bottom of a ladle to help you extract as much of the purée as possible
• Leave the purée to cool and discard the seeds
• You should end up with around 325ml/11fl oz of purée
• Put the cream and yoghurt in a large bowl and whip with an electric whisk until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl – the acidity of the fruit will thicken the cream further, so don’t take it too far
• When the purée is completely cold, adjust the sweetness to taste by adding more sugar if needed
• Pour it into the bowl with the whipped cream and yoghurt and stir just once or twice until very lightly combined
• Spoon the blackberry fool into individual wide, glass dishes – or one large, single bowl
• It should look quite marbled, so don’t over-stir it
• Scatter a few tiny mint leaves on top and decorate with the reserved blackberries
• Sprinkle with a little sugar if you like and serve with the hazelnut biscuits