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



## Daizymae (Jul 12, 2010)

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!


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## babetoo (Jul 12, 2010)

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.


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## mollyanne (Jul 12, 2010)

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)


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## Wyogal (Jul 12, 2010)

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


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## les (Jul 12, 2010)

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


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## CharlieD (Jul 12, 2010)

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


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## merstar (Jul 12, 2010)

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).


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## CharlieD (Jul 12, 2010)

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


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## Daizymae (Jul 12, 2010)

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...


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## mollyanne (Jul 12, 2010)

*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.


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## merstar (Jul 12, 2010)

Daizymae said:


> 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.


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## Kathleen (Jul 12, 2010)

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.


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## Alix (Jul 12, 2010)

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.


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## Daizymae (Jul 12, 2010)

Alix said:


> 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.


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## Alix (Jul 12, 2010)

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.


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## CharlieD (Jul 13, 2010)

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.


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## ChefJune (Jul 13, 2010)

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.


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## Daizymae (Jul 13, 2010)

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


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## CharlieD (Jul 13, 2010)

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


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## ChefJune (Jul 13, 2010)

Daizymae said:


> 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.


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## Daizymae (Jul 13, 2010)

Well, I will try different saturated fats, i.e., butter, coconut fat, palm fat etc.  I know that pork lard is considered healthier, but that would be oldfashioned pork lard, not the heavily processed, ultrawhite version.  Crisco, too, is a high tech product.  Does make nice pie crust, though.  Some people use butter for pie crust, but I think there's no substitute for Crisco or Lard. 

We do have desire to avoid pork that has nothing to do with any formal religion.  

Off on a tangent here - isn't it strange that when you try to use polyunsaturated oils for cookies, pastries, etc. the result is dreadful.  Yet when you use a saturated fat, your product is nice 'n' light.  Pretty weird, huh.  But our ancestor figured it all out over hundreds of years and it is hard to argue with tradition.


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## Daizymae (Jul 14, 2010)

Mollyanne, I apologize for being so slow in acknowledging the recipe for Easy Panna Cotta. I am STILL up to my ears in berries.


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## gage (Jul 15, 2010)

since no one mentioned it ,you noted it might turn into wine, it read as though that would be a bad thing ! wine is a miracle of life , humans only gave up being hunter/gatherers because they couldn't carry the wine with them,that plus the wine made them fall down alot. Wine translates to tanglefoot in every language


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## Daizymae (Jul 15, 2010)

gage said:


> since no one mentioned it ,you noted it might turn into wine, it read as though that would be a bad thing ! wine is a miracle of life , humans only gave up being hunter/gatherers because they couldn't carry the wine with them,that plus the wine made them fall down alot. Wine translates to tanglefoot in every language



Well, we don't drink alcohol, but if a lot of it did turn into wine, I would let the alcohol go into vinegar, and I imagine it would be fine stuff.  I recall that when I was in my 20s I tried to make wine.  I did not realize it was half-way, or more,  into vinegar.  I didn't know anything about it.  Didn't even try it.  A guest came over and I gave him some and all he said was that it "packed a punch".  He didn't want to be rude, I guess.  Later I tasted it... it was indeed vinegary.  Live and learn.


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## gage (Jul 15, 2010)

that's true-I make plum and raspberry vinegar, I prefer the plum.


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## Daizymae (Jul 16, 2010)

Plum vinegar - I have never heard of it.  But I imagine you can make vinegar out of virtually any fruit, I don't see why not.


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## vagriller (Jul 16, 2010)

Sounds like you are one berry away from triple berry jam. My mom made us up half a batch when she was here and that stuff was gone in no time! I think she even used the frozen berries. So you could get some frozen blackberries if you want and do it.


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## Daizymae (Jul 18, 2010)

I have never made a double-berry, never mind a triple-berry, jam but you have piqued my interest.  Time to do something different for a change!  I don't have access to any blackberries and wondered if you have any other suggestions.  How about mixing in some saskatoons (june berries I think you call them in the US) with strawbs and rasps?  Someone is bringing me some just-picked wild ones today!

 Really, when I think about all that sugar that goes into jam, would it even matter if the 3 berries don't appear well-matched?  Looking for your opinion.


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## vagriller (Jul 18, 2010)

Daizymae said:


> I have never made a double-berry, never mind a triple-berry, jam but you have piqued my interest. Time to do something different for a change! I don't have access to any blackberries and wondered if you have any other suggestions. How about mixing in some saskatoons (june berries I think you call them in the US) with strawbs and rasps? Someone is bringing me some just-picked wild ones today!
> 
> Really, when I think about all that sugar that goes into jam, would it even matter if the 3 berries don't appear well-matched? Looking for your opinion.


 
I've never made jam myself, but I would assume that it would be fine. I would try it myself. Can you get any frozen berries? When my mom made the batch it was with 100% frozen berries, and the jam was amazing! I think she used strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I need to make some more. She left the jars and lids with me, as well as the leftover pectin. I need to get on that.

edit: I just looked up saskatoons and one site said they are similiar to cranberries, and they are often used in jams. That might be an interesting combination with strawberries and raspberries.


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## Daizymae (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi.  Saskatoons are not like cranberries.  They look like blueberries, only more purplish, and have a sweet, v. nice taste.


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