"raspberry" news and stories

Happy National Raspberry Tart Day!

Dubbed the most "intensely flavored member of the berry family" by the Food Lover's Companion, raspberries are the quintessential summer fruit. With a pleasant bite and punchy flavor, the plump berries are the perfect complement to a creamy, rich tart.

Pictured at left, La Tartine Gourmande baked up what she dubbed a "Dessert For Girls," a sophisticated raspberry tart topped with crystallized rose petals with coconut. Although she's kept her recipe private, we'll suggest Epicurious' mascarpone tart recipe as the perfect base for a bed of fresh raspberries. Spiked with lemon zest and a Port wine glaze, this less dainty tart is the perfect summer dessert for girls and boys alike.

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Happy National Raspberry Tart Day!

I'll say it: For looking as impressive as they do, tarts really aren't half as much work as one might think. You make a dough, deftly fit it to the tart pan (we like the fancy fluted ones for wow factor), and toss in your filling and presto! A sophisticated dessert!

Appropriately suggested by Flickr photographer Cafe Fernando as a perfect Valentine's Day recipe, the raspberry tart has some serious pizzaz, with the use of the sharp, tangy fruit. The one pictured at left tops a buttery, pistachio crust with fresh raspberries, with a decorative burst of chocolate. For other springy raspberry tart recipes, peruse our list below:

• Lemon Buttermilk Raspberry Tart
• Brown Butter Raspberry Tart
• Key Lime Raspberry Tart with Pistachio Crust
• Ginger Cream Tart with Raspberries
• Chocolate and Raspberry Tart
• Almond and Raspberry Tart

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Is it the flavor profile or the fat that makes us so enamored with baked goods?

Either way, you can still enjoy a lower-sugar treat that's made with real ingredients like coconut and jam without having to worry about getting a trans-fat and preservative overload. Sugar, water and high-fructose corn syrup are usually the first and most prevalent ingredients used in store-bought baked goods, not to mention artificial coloring and a whole host of other unpronounceable things you didn't bargain for.

Here's a comparison of nutritional stats between store-bought and homemade raspberry zinger cake:

One store-bought portion:
Calories 160, total fat 7g, sat fat 3g, sodium 100 mg, total carbohydrate 24g, protein 1g

One comparable home-made portion:
Calories 127, total fat 5g, sat fat 1g, sodium 100 mg, total carbohydrate 19g, protein 2g

Find the Skinny Chef's recipe for Raspberry Zinger Cake after the jump.

There are some people who it is just plain good to know. When you're in college, for example, the guy with a truck is incredibly helpful, and when you go in to business, the understanding accountant and the slightly unethical lawyer are almost necessities.

A few years ago, my friend John became one of these fabulously helpful people. A lifelong resident of southwest Virginia and a trained chemist, John had a skill set that was uniquely wonderful: he knew how to get hold of moonshine, and he knew how to test it for impurities. While the grain liquor (or "likker," if you prefer) that I got from John wasn't all that cheap, it was completely flavorless, and I soon discovered that it made the perfect carrier for various fruits. Within a couple of months, I had a collection of incredibly delicious infused cordials that I would mix with seltzer or tonic water to produce light, moderately alcoholic spritzers with insanely pure tastes.

I don't know how lucky one person can get. I was able to go to a second pastry demonstration in two weeks. Not only that, the demonstration was done by Norman Love, the owner of one of the best lines of chocolate confections available in the U.S. today. He's been in the pastry kitchen for quite some, and was the corporate pastry chef for the Ritz-Carlton for 13 years before leaving to start Norman Love Confections

It was a really great demo, too. Chef Love was advised by his legal team to not demonstrate chocolate truffles, so he did cakes instead. He made from start to finish two cakes: a chocolate hazelnut cake and a milk chocolate raspberry cake. Of course he had brought some components with him for expediency, but for the most part Chef Love mixed all of the ingredients and built each of the cakes right before our eyes. He also did sneak in some chocolate work, making the garnishes for each of the cakes.

Chef Love was really personable as well. It's obvious that he is passionate about his chosen profession and incredibly knowledgeable. He was great about answering questions and he gave out lots of great tips. He was very easy to understand. Most of the people in attendance were pastry professionals, but there were also a lot of students and I'm sure a few lay persons. And yet I am 100% sure that everyone left knowing exactly what Chef Love was talking about all night. Check out the gallery for this post: it's comprised of images I took at the demonstration.