Michigan Raspberries!

The Culinary Studio is all about promoting locally grown produce.  Many Michigan crops are hitting the local Farmer's Markets right now, and Michigan Raspberries are among the beautiful fruits you'll find.

To find a market or perhaps the closest "pick your own" farm nearest you:  Taste the Local Difference

Sometimes called "nutritional powerhouses," raspberries are rich in Vitamin C, fiber, and ellagic acid which studies are showing may be responsible for reducing cancers in many areas within the body.

Here are some suggestions on ways to use your raspberries, compliments of Absolute Michigan:

Try it!

• Raspberries are a cinch to freeze. Spread them out on a tray in the freezer overnight, and then put them in bags.
  
• Bring frozen berries out later when the peaches, apricots, or blueberries are in season and combine them for a great fresh fruit salad. You don't need to defrost the berries. Try tossing this mix with a bit of maple syrup, lime juice, ginger, and nutmeg that you shake together in a small jar to whatever level of tartness or sweetness you desire.
  
• Dense chocolate cake with raspberry sauce between the layers is a to-die-for combination. But it's hot. Who wants to bake? We guarantee your guests will swoon with pleasure at this simple dessert: Melt some dark chocolate chips over low heat in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Add a bit of half and half, cream, or milk until it's the consistency of a sauce. Drizzle over fresh raspberries in pretty bowls.
  
• Here's a simple raspberry ice from Carla Emery's Old-Fashioned Recipe Book: Pour a half cup of honey over three to four cups of raspberries. Mash with a potato masher until you have it pulped as finely and mixed as well as you can. If you want to, strain it to get the seeds out. Add one cup water and the juice of one lemon. Freeze, stirring occasionally. Serve it before it's frozen solid. If it freezes too hard, let it thaw a bit.
  
• How about a mid-summer cooler from the award-winning, Upper Peninsula-based cookbook Hollyhocks & Radishes, by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson?
  
  Raspberry Shrub
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries
    
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
    
  • 2 cups water
    
  • Cracked ice
    
  • 1 cup light rum or soda water
    
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice
    
  • Mint sprigs and raspberries for optional garnish
    
  • In a saucepan, simmer raspberries, sugar, and water, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
    
  • Pour through a sieve, pressing to squeeze out at least two cups of juice. Cool.
    
  • Place cracked ice in four tall glasses. To each, add a half-cup of raspberry juice, two ounces (or one-quarter cup) rum or soda water and 1/2 teaspoon juice. Stir and garnish.