We have billions of raspberries. Help us use them up.
August 8, 2015 1:41 PM   Subscribe

What else should we do with a whole bunch of fresh raspberries before inthey mold?

So far, we've frozen some for use in smoothies/dessert sauces, eaten an unimaginable amount raw, made jam, muddled a few into mojitos, made a batch of infused vodka, made some fruity vinegar shrubs and dehydrated some fruit leather. What haven't we thought of?
posted by charmedimsure to Food & Drink (20 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Pie.
posted by jon1270 at 1:41 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


Raspberries make good sorbet. The problem can be dealing with the seeds--I usually strain them out by hand, but it's fairly tedious hard work. If you end up with sweetened raspberry puree with no seeds (or not many seeds, not enough to bother you depending on your tastes), you can freeze it in any ice cream or gelato machine for sorbet.

Note that you can also freeze them now and thaw them for sorbet-making later.

Fruit tarts or little tartlets, like you see in nice bakeries, aren't that hard to make, and could be a fun project.

Fruit-based sauces on meat are an area where you could get creative.

Raspberry-infused vinegar would keep well. Bottles of it can make a nice gift, too.

Cheese spread for snacking might be an idea.
posted by gimonca at 1:49 PM on August 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


Raspberry clafoutis is quite nice, even though cherries are the most common fruit for it. I like this recipe.
posted by ssg at 1:49 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


Also, brandied raspberries are quite nice over ice cream or on cake. Just fill a mason jar with raspberries, add half their weight in sugar and fill the jar with brandy. Close it up and invert a few times over the next few days until all the sugar is dissolved. It keeps indefinitely as there is sufficient alcohol and sugar to prevent anything growing.
posted by ssg at 1:52 PM on August 8, 2015 [5 favorites]


more jam! the world cannot have enough raspberry jam. you will regret it when you spread the last of what you have on toast in a not-too-distant future.
posted by andrewcooke at 2:07 PM on August 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


Put them in chocolate pudding. 😍
can I come visit plz
posted by Hermione Granger at 2:24 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


Raspberry iced tea!
posted by Swisstine at 2:31 PM on August 8, 2015


Freeze them for your oatmeal or smoothies in the dead of winter, when raspberries are like $5 for a tiny box.

You can also freeze pies and tarts. Let me know if you want tips on how to do this easily. I like to make individual-sized pies -- they're perfect for an impromptu dessert and can be stretched with a few scoops of ice cream.
posted by barnone at 2:40 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


You could certainly do worse than a few gallons of Raspberry wine. It comes out pretty dry and crisp; makes a pretty pleasant desert wine.
posted by furnace.heart at 2:52 PM on August 8, 2015


I give you this recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream from David Lebovitz' PERFECT SCOOP:

Whisk together 1-1/2 cups of heavy cream, 5 tablespoons cocoa powder, and 2/3 cup of sugar in a saucepan. Heat on the stove, stirring frequently, until it comes to a full, rolling boil (it will start to foam up; watch out). Remove from heat and add 2 cups of raspberries. Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Puree the whole mess in a blender or using a stick blender, and if you wish, press through a mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Cover and chill thoroughly, then process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers' instructions. Makes 3 cups.

You're welcome.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:52 PM on August 8, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm a couple of years away from way too many raspberries and it's always been my plan after the jam and pies and wine and great drippy mushy raspberry orgies to give the things away to friends and neighbors. Why miss a chance to make a lot of people happy?
posted by firstdrop at 3:03 PM on August 8, 2015




Raspberry Coulis. It freezes easily & is delicious in pretty much anything you might want to put it on. I love it on cheesecake & ice cream.
posted by wwax at 4:09 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


If you actually have billions and are worried they'll go to waste, a really simple way to bulk process them is to just put them in a crock pot on low, and they'll give up a lot of syrup. Discard the flesh, and use the syrup to flavor seltzer, or just drink it straight. By this method, they don't have to be perfect to work well.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:11 PM on August 8, 2015 [1 favorite]


This raspberry gratin recipe has been on my mind every summer since the recipe appeared, but I never have enough raspberries to want to cook with them. Doesn't it look delicious, though?
posted by Meg_Murry at 6:21 PM on August 8, 2015


If you have a dehydrator, they dry nicely. They then make a nice and unusual addition to salads or to veggies served with a light dressing such as oil & vinegar. My batch came out rather sharp and not very sweet, so keep that in mind. They might be sweeter if your berries are very sweet.

Dried raspberries might also be good in granola/trail mix, or you might be able to grind them and use them as a powdered topping or mix-in e.g. for ice cream or yogurt. I haven't tried either of these.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 6:44 PM on August 8, 2015


Cobbler or breads to freeze.
posted by irisclara at 7:34 PM on August 8, 2015


soak in vodka for three months, then remove berries, add sugar to taste: raspberry liqueur.
posted by jb at 8:46 PM on August 8, 2015


I used tons of my backyard black raspberries to make something between a syrup and a preserve - cooked down with sugar and most of the seeds strained out, but not to a setting point. I ate it over homemade whole-milk yogurt and now I'm really sad that it's all gone.
posted by SeedStitch at 5:59 AM on August 10, 2015


Raspberry daiquiris.

You can freeze them for future use in cocktails also, if you don't mind the pips.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:25 PM on August 10, 2015


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