Food ‘n Drink

Yes it’s that time of year where the Raspberries are coming thick and fast. For anyone buying foreign raspberries from the supermarkets - don’t! The UK Raspberry season is full on this year, and luckily it seems to be one thing that the rain hasn’t actually ruined! I’ve been out picking a few bowlfuls each week for a few weeks now, and today I’ve just picked an even larger bowlful than usual! The top raspberries off the older canes are nice and large. I could sell them in a supermarket!

So having a nice supply of raspberries is all well and good but after a while you can get fed up of constantly eating them as they are, so what else can you do with them? Well to be really indulgent (ideal when you’re alone as you won’t want to share this!) I recommend a simple warm raspberry and cream dessert:

Put the raspberries into a microwaveable proof bowl (pudding bowl is fine), sprinkle a little sugar over depending on how sharp/sweet they are. Heat in the microwave for about a minute until the raspberries are warmed through and softening a little. A little juice from them is perfect. Then pour over a little fresh cream and enjoy!

Of course unless you’re intending to go running for a mile every morning then this treat is just that, a treat and not one to be had every other night! However there are a few not as bad desserts that you can make with raspberries which I’ve listed a couple below. My Mum makes a fantastic raspberry jam too but I don’t have a clue about how to make this. I’ll get the recipe off her one day!!

Apple and Raspberry Crumble

Slice up a large or two medium cooking apples (peel first) into a pyrex bowl. Sprinkle with a little water and put in the microwave on full power for 5 minutes to get the apples softened. Then throw in a handful of raspberries (blackberries go well with it all too!). To make up your crumble topping you want to use 2 parts plain flour to 1 part brown sugar and 1 part butter. Of course how much depends on the size of your pyrex bowl but 100g of flour to 50g of brown sugar and 50g of butter should do the trick. You want this all mixed well. Once it’s mixed then spread this out on top of the fruit. Put in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 35 minutes. You can serve it with ice cream or cream but personally I prefer custard (and the low fat stuff isn’t bad either!).

Summer Pudding

Summer Pudding is pretty easy. I deviated from the recipe I had to make it a little richer. Simply put your raspberries and any other berries you have (blackberries are in season now too) into a pan with a little sugar and stew until the fruit is soft and some of the juice has come out. You still want something resembling fruit and not fruit soup, so don’t overdo it! Then take a madiera cake (I think it’s that, the buttery plain cake you cake buy). Slice this up into semi thin slices and line a bowl with the cake making sure you have enough for the top. Put all the fruit in and then cover it with the rest of the cake. Put it in the fridge and leave it for at least a few hours. When you’re ready for it use a thin spatula to go around the edges of the bowl to loosen the pudding. Then put a large plate on top of the bowl and turn it all up the other way and hopefully your pudding should now sit on the plate but still be firm.

Serve this with icecream or cream.