Does anyone have any good recipes for using frozen raspberries, apart from the good old standby of meringue cases?
At this time of year, we tend to use them in home-made ice cream. You can also make a very successful raspberry ripple by SLIGHTLY thawing a block of good quality commercial vanilla ice cream, then folding through it some cold raspberry syrup made by stirring the rasps with not too much sugar in a microwave until the sugar dissolves and the raspberries are broken up but not entirely smooth.
Or how about a trifle made with a similar raspberry syrup soaked into the bottom sponge layer, then raspberry jelly with a few whole raspberries in it, topped with your usual custard, cream, flaked almonds, whatever.
I have a handful under a couple of spoons of creme fraiche, topped with some granola and a teaspoon of runny honey. I could eat that all day long!
+1 For Melbourne12 Trifle... but you forgot the Marsala soaked Amaritti biscuits....
I have just been looking at recipes for fruit vinegars, from the Telegraph, and used on roasted root vegetables. Another recipe, James Wong, was raspberry and bay vinegar, used on vanilla ice cream.
I greatly recommend raspberry vinegar as it is so delicious, easy to make, and makes a fantastic salad dressing with its combination of sweetness and sharpness, mellowed by good olive oil.
Is raspberry jam too obvious?
Jars of raspberry jam made,and some given away. Loads of raspberries in freezer, but they seem a bit bitter and watery. Did make a trifle but it ended up a bit of a raspberry slush. Might try the sugar and microwave method later. Loads of gooseberries, blackberries and redcurrants in the freezer. Better get cooking. :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
This raspberry and almond cake is a family favourite and freezes well.
Ingredients
140g ground almonds (or increase almonds to flour ratio)
140g butter, softened
140g golden caster sugar
140g self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract (+ tbs amaretto)
250g raspberries
2 tbsp flaked almonds
icing sugar, to serve
Method
Heat oven to 170C and base-line and grease a deep 20cm cake tin. Blitz the ground almonds, butter, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla extract in a food processor until well combined, or cream butter and sugar in usual way and add ingredients after.
Spread half the mix over the cake tin and smooth over the top. Scatter the raspberries over, then dollop the remaining cake mixture on top and roughly spread – you might find this easier to do with your fingers. Scatter with flaked almonds and bake for 50 mins until golden. Cool, remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar to serve.
Raspberry and Coconut cake
Use half the quantities for a 7 inch square cake tin.
350g butter, softened
350g fine caster sugar (ultra fin or S1)
6 eggs
350g plain flour
1 sachet baking powder
2 untreated lemons – grated zest and juice
350g raspberries (frozen is OK)
200g desiccated coconut
Topping
Seedless raspberry jam, extra coconut and optional extra raspberries
Grease and line a 10 inch/25cm cake tin.
Preheat the oven to 80C.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar and butter till light and fluffy and well aerated. Add the baking powder with one egg and 60g of the flour and mix well. Continue till all 6 eggs and all the flour have been incorporated.
Add the zest and juice of the lemons along with the coconut and mix well. Finally fold in the raspberries using a large spoon.
Transfer the batter to the cake tin and level it smooth. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes till cooked. Test the centre with a clean skewer. If it comes out clean OK. If not cook for a further 5 minutes and test again. It can take extra time if you've used frozen raspberries.
Leave it to cool 10 minutes then brush the top of the cake with 150g of raspberry jam heated in the microwave to make it liquid. Scatter on desiccated coconut to decorate.
Leave it to cool in completely in the tin as this keeps it moist.
When ready to serve, put it on a serving dish, decorate with optional extra raspberries and serve cut in squares.