When my family and I moved to our property almost 20 years ago, we were fortunate to inherit an established raspberry patch. I don’t know what variety the raspberries are but they are an ever-bearing type that produces berries from summer until the snow flies, with heavier yields in July and September. The large, sweet, red berries are delicious eaten fresh or used frozen in recipes.
Raspberries are spreaders and, through the years, friends, family and neighbours have taken canes from our patch to start their own.
One word of caution if you are starting your own patch, to keep the raspberry canes from spreading too much, plant grass around the patch. When you mow the lawn it will keep the raspberry plants under control.
We eat our fill of fresh raspberries all season long and also fill the freezer with bags of them. To make it easy to take out only the quantity of frozen raspberries needed for a recipe, I spread the fresh berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet before freezing. Then I fill plastic freezer bags with the individually frozen raspberries.
Given our abundant raspberry crop, it’s a good thing there are so many ways to enjoy them. In season, we eat them fresh by the bowlful, sprinkle them on breakfast cereal and toss them into salads and yoghurt. I make a lot of jam — my favourite is a mix of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. The frozen berries are used in muffins, pies, cobblers, lemonade and smoothies.
As an added bonus, raspberries are not only tasty but also healthy. They are rich in Vitamin C, antioxidants and fibre.
When buying raspberries, choose ones that are plump, firm, brightly-coloured and with no signs of mould. If you can, purchase them locally in order to get them as fresh as possible. Store in the fridge but don’t wash them until you are ready to use them. They’ll keep for a few days when refrigerated.
Here is a trio of my favourite raspberry recipes.
Berry delicious smoothie
250 mL (1 cup) plain or vanilla yoghurt
250 mL (1 cup) fresh or frozen raspberries (can substitute blueberries or strawberries)
250 mL (1 cup) milk
1 frozen banana
5 mL (1 tsp.) sugar (use more or less depending on desired sweetness)
Mix ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Raspberry lemonade
Hot day + raspberry lemonade = bliss!
½ cup (125 mL) sugar
2 cups (500 mL) water
1 cup (250 mL) raspberries
2 cups (500 mL) cold water
juice of 3 lemons
First mix the water and sugar in a medium-sized sauce pan. Bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool. Purée the raspberries in a blender. Mix sugar syrup, raspberries, cold water and lemon juice in a large pitcher. The raspberry seeds tend to sink to the bottom of the pitcher or you can strain them out, if desired. To serve, pour over ice in tall glasses.
Raspberry and poppy seed salad
Fresh raspberries go well with spinach, cheese, pecans.
2 L (8 cups) baby spinach
125 mL (½ cup) chopped pecans (toasted in a dry skillet for a minute or two)
125 mL (½ cup) Brie cheese, cut into small pieces
250 mL (1 cup) fresh raspberries
Dressing
125 mL (½ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
15 mL (1 Tbsp.) maple syrup
60 mL (¼ cup) balsamic vinegar
5 mL (1 tsp.) prepared Dijon mustard
Dash salt and pepper
10 mL (2 tsp.) poppy seeds
Gently mix the spinach, pecans, cheese and raspberries in a large bowl. To make the dressing, mix the oil, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a blender on high for 30 seconds. Stir poppy seeds into dressing. Toss the salad with dressing just before serving.
- Helen Lammers-Helps