In a bit of a panic over excess of fruit...

[Daizymae]

Hi. This is my first post over & above the introductory one. I hope someone can help me.

Family members and I, yesterday & today, just picked 12 litres of raspberries and 20 litres of fine juicy strawberries.

We have only a small refrigerator and since these kinds of berries deteriorate fairly quickly, I am trying to freeze and otherwise process my motherlode before they turn into chickenfeed, wine or compost.

I thought that it would be nice to have some kind of not-cooked raspberry or strawberry dessert tonight, possibly something where you make a pastry type base then dump the berries on top. I don't know how or where to hunt for such a thing. Also, for me - the simpler the better.

So, all you smart dessert cooks out there, can you direct me to such a recipe? Many thanks!

 

[babetoo]

both would make super good fruit tarts. no recipe off the top of head. sure you can find something on one of the many recipe site. martha stewart, or do a search here. cooks. com is another good one. i would freeze as many as i could, the will be good to cook with or make smoothies. or thawed just on their own.

 

[mollyanne]

I love Strawberry Shortcake or for something quick & easy
with the wow factor, you could do this using layers of
spongecake or regular cake:(idea from SouthernLiving magazine)

 

[Wyogal]

pastry filled with vanilla pudding (or custard of some kind), then topped with berries.
How about making jam?

 

[les]

This may be too late, (time difference)
Waffleberry Pudding

 

[CharlieD]

Oh, my, I see a lot of jelly and compotes in my pantry.

 

[merstar]

I have great recipes for "Strawberry or Raspberry Cream Pie" and "Strawberry Charlotte Russe." Neither is baked. Will PM the recipes to you if you're interested.

Another great dessert is Raspberry or Strawberry Fool. (Basically pureed sweetened berries, folded into whipped cream - serve in goblets).

 

[CharlieD]

P.S. as the matter of fact i was going to make some raspberry jelly tonight.

 

[Daizymae]

Oh my, what a fine bunch of replies! Thank you all very much and esp. for your links. Not too late!

Re making jam. Of course, that is what I do with 80% of my berries, but I can't get to the store for Pomona's Pectin for a few days (we are far away from the store). So I wanted to freeze most of them first and then get to the jamming later in the season.

CharlieD - is there any reason why we can't make raspberry jelly from frozen berries? I am not an expert jellymaker (it always turns out cloudy) but I would love to take a crack at this. I believe there is a preserving section on this forum?

Merstar, I would be most grateful for your recipes for Cream Pie, Russe & Fools.
The only "fool" I've ever made was with rhubarb.

Thanks all for your assistance.

I went and emptied the refrigerator out to make room for the berries so the kitchen is in a bit of a calamity...

 

[mollyanne]

Easy Panna Cotta (italian custard in martini glasses)
topped with a dollup of chocolate sauce,
Fresh Raspberries, and a mint sprig garnish:

Place 1/2 cup of whole milk in a small saucepan.
Sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin over the milk
and let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.

Stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves,
but the milk does not boil, about 2 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 Cups heavy cream and 1/3 Cup sugar.
Stir over low heat, until the sugar dissolves(about 3 more min.)

Remove from the heat, add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
(or almond or lemon) and let cool slightly.

Pour the cream mixture into 2 martini glasses, dividing equally.
Cover and refrigerate, stirring every 20 minutes during the first hour.
Chill until set, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.

Top with a dollop of chocolate sauce,
then fresh raspberries over each panna cotta.

Garnish with fresh mint leaves.

 

[merstar]

Merstar, I would be most grateful for your recipes for Cream Pie, Russe & Fools.
The only "fool" I've ever made was with rhubarb.

Daizymae,
Check your PM's.

 

[Kathleen]

I made some country wine with strawberries that seems to be coming along nicely! It's my first try with wine, but that is an option for either of those fruits.

 

[Alix]

Daizymae,

You don't need pectin to make awesome raspberry jam. Check this recipe of my MIL's. Perfect jam every time and incredible stuff.

 

[Daizymae]

Daizymae,

You don't need pectin to make awesome raspberry jam. Check this recipe of my MIL's. Perfect jam every time and incredible stuff.

Will you swear that it won't be runny? It'll really gell? It does sound good! Do the proportions have to be exactly as the recipe says? I didn't know that rasps had built-in pectin; I thought it was just an apple & citrus thing.

 

[Alix]

I have never had it be runny. I don't know how thick you like your jam though. I don't like mine to be solid. Its a perfect jam consistency IMO.

 

[CharlieD]

I never consider making jam or jelly from frozen berries so I really have no answer for that, sorry.
As far as jelly becoming cloudy the one thing that comes to mind and I am not sure if that is the reason, but, do you skim the foam of the top of the cooking jelly, you know that sugary substance that forms while the jelly is boiling?
And last but not least, I never use pectin in any of my jellies. As a matter of fact I just recently, couple of weeks, finished a last jar of raspberry jelly I made like 3-4-5 years ago, I do not even remember. The one thing I do use is citric acid, aka sour salt, not even really as a preservative but rather to prevent the jelly from becoming a solid sugar chunk, sorry not sure what it really calls in English, I'm sure there is term for it.

P.S. I added my recipe for rapberry jelly in Alix's thread, check it out.

 

[ChefJune]

You could make up a batch of biscuits in a larger size, and make shortcakes. That's my favorite kind of fruit dessert this time year (except for peach cobbler, of course).

Mom’s Biscuits


makes about 12 biscuits

2 rounded cups flour
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 BIG tablespoons lard [table tablespoons]
3/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients.
2. Cut lard in until mixture is lumpy. Then pour in just enough milk to make it stick together. (The mixture will be sticky and moist.)
3. Put flour on a pastry board. Pat down the dough in the flour and cut out the biscuits. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes.

Teacher’s Tip: In the Mid-West, regular all-purpose flour works fine for this recipe. I live on the East Coast now, though, and for the longest while couldn’t figure out why my biscuits didn’t rise like Mom’s. The answer is that the flour we get here has too much protein. There are two ways to solve this problem. One is to purchase White Lily Flour by mail order (if you can still get it from the Knoxville plant) or to substitute cake flour for one of the cups of flour.

 

[Daizymae]

Gracias for recipe. Nothing easier! But does it have to be lard? We do not eat that in my family.

 

[CharlieD]

I'm sure it doesn't Have to be, but it will be different result in the end.

 

[ChefJune]

Gracias for recipe. Nothing easier! But does it have to be lard? We do not eat that in my family.

You can use Crisco, but if you don't have religious restrictions to pork, the lard is healthier (yeah, I know... but it's true! ) and the texture and taste are noticeably (imho) better.