I can make a meal out of the little red gems, sprinkled with a bit of sugar, drizzled with some cream; it's heaven.
As wonderful as they are au naturel, raspberries are also one of my favourite fruits to cook with. They meld beautifully into cakes and muffins and make wonderful fruit purees to serve over ice cream or puddle around cheesecakes and other desserts (strain out the seeds as they're not pleasant to crunch on).
Our short raspberry season is now in full swing, so buy a few baskets and make one of these recipes soon. You can also freeze raspberries to bring a little summer into a rainy winter day. Place berries in a single layer on a baking sheet, freeze and then place in freezer bags.
Raspberry Financier
This is a lovely little dessert of Parisian origin.
½ cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
¾ cup sugar
¾ blanched slivered almonds
2 ?3 cup all-purpose flour
6 large egg whites, room temperature
¼ tsp salt
3 cups fresh raspberries
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a shallow 10inch baking dish (a deep-dish pie plate works well).
In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, the vanilla and the almond extract. In a food processor, combine the sugar, almonds and flour; process until almonds are finely ground.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt on high speed until stiff, moist peaks are formed. Gently whisk in the flour mixture, then the butter mixture, until just blended.
Spread into the prepared pan. Sprinkle raspberries evenly over top. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream. Makes eight servings.
Raspberry Meringue
Roulade
This sounds like a difficult recipe but it's not, the only tricky part is flipping over the meringue.
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1¼ cups sugar
1¼ cups chilled whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla
2½ cups fresh raspberries ½ cup seedless raspberry jam
Icing sugar and additional raspberries for garnish
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and position rack in the centre of oven. Line a 15-by-10 by one-inch baking pan (jelly roll pan) with waxed paper, letting paper extend two inches over the ends of pan. Butter the waxed paper. Beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form; very gradually add the sugar, beating until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Spread the meringue evenly in the prepared pan; bake until pale golden, about eight minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until meringue is slightly firm on top but soft inside, about another eight minutes. Remove pan from oven and run a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the meringue. Place a clean sheet of waxed paper on top, then place a second baking pan over that and very carefully flip the meringue over; remove the original pan and waxed paper from the bottom. Lift the meringue on its new sheet of waxed paper onto a flat surface to cool for half an hour.
In a medium bowl, whip the cream and vanilla to stiff peaks. In another bowl, gently mix together the raspberries and the jam. Spoon the raspberry mixture over the meringue, leaving a one-inch border on all sides. Spread the whipped cream over the raspberry mixture.
Starting at one long side, very gently roll the meringue up like a jelly roll, enclosing the filling. Using two wide spatulas carefully lift the roulade and place it seam side down on a serving platter. Refrigerate for at least one hour or up to four hours. To serve, dust chilled roulade with icing sugar and cut into slices. Garnish with additional raspberries. Makes 10 servings.
Raspberry Rapture Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder Finely grated zest of one large lemon
1 ?3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
3½ cups fresh raspberries Glaze:
1½ cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp milk or light cream
2 tsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. In a two-cup measuring cup, beat the egg lightly, add milk and vanilla and stir to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk mixture, beating well after each addition.
Spread batter into a greased 13-by-nine by two-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle raspberries evenly over top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until centre of cake springs back when lightly touched.
Cool on a wire rack for five minutes. Combine all glaze ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well blended; drizzle over cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 15 servings.
Angela Shellard is a self-described foodie. She has done informal catering for sports and business functions and enjoys entertaining family and friends at home. Contact: [email protected].
