8 Easy Raspberry Recipes

Raspberries are delicious and they are one of the fruits with high contents of fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants. They are the perfect fruit to prepare your body for a busy summer.

One of the reasons I always look forward to the summer season is because I know that very soon I’ll be enjoying a fresh crop of raspberries everyday for almost two weeks. Raspberries are one of those rare fruits that are incredibly expensive to buy fresh but are very easy and cheap to grow in your garden. Even if you don’t have a big garden, raspberries are so easy to grow that you can manage a good crop growing it in garden pots in a sunny terrace or balcony.

This year, due to the early high temperatures we have enjoyed an abundant crop very early in the season. And when I say abundant, I mean it! Like every other year during a few weeks I am flooded with raspberries and despite the children just picking them and eating them in the garden straight from the plants, I manage to bring at least a full big bowl of raspberries to the kitchen every day; which means that after the first few days of “raspberry craze” I am sitting in my kitchen staring at a bowl of raspberries looking for new ways to bring them to the table. But this is part of the fun, and with time I have learnt a few easy but delicious recipes to make with my raspberries. Here, I will share 8 of the easiest raspberry recipes I love:

1. Raspberry Champagne Cocktail
2. Raspberry Vodka cocktail
3. Low-Calorie Raspberry Jam
4. Non-sugar raspberry coulis
5. Raspberry Milkshake
6. Raspberry Cheesecake
7. Raspberry pudding.
8. Raspberry Vinaigrette.

I have collected here a few of my favourite raspberry recipes. They are extremely easy to make and utterly delicious, from simple raspberry cocktails, raspberry coulis, raspberry jam, raspberry cheesecake, raspberry pudding to even a raspberry salad dressing! Enjoy…

1) Raspberry Champagne Cocktail

You will need a bottle of champagne and a handful of raspberries. Prepare your cocktail just before drinking it. Put a few raspberries in a champagne glass and cover to the top with cold champagne. Cheers!

2) Raspberry Vodka Cocktail

For this stronger aperitif, you will need a handful of raspberries, a good vodka, crushed ice, sugar cane syrup and lemonade.

Put a few raspberries in a whisky glass add the ice and a touch of sugar syrup. Stir with a spoon to slightly crush the raspberries. Add a measure of vodka and fill up the glass with lemonade. Enjoy sitting on the garden on a sunny day!

3) Low-Calorie Raspberry Jam

There is nothing like fresh homemade jam, and even better if you can enjoy the taste of your garden fruits without the guilt of the added sugar. Since last year instead of using ordinary sugar to make my homemade jams, I’ve been using “low sugar pectin” varieties of sugar. The one I use in France comes in half kilo packets that you mix with a kilo of fruit and cook for three minutes. After that, all you are left to do is pack your jam and enjoy it!

4) Non-sugar Raspberry Coulis

This is so simple to make that you will not believe it. Just pass your raspberries through a small sieve to obtain a creamy and vibrant red puree. Store in a clean jar and eat within two days. You can use this coulis to accompany ice creams, cakes, yogurts and even to make milkshakes and cocktails. I love it with a good vanilla ice cream, it is just heaven on earth!

My little ones love this one. For three glasses of milkshake I put in a blender one cup of raspberries, one cup of full fat milk, half a cup of ice, one small yogurt –plain or raspberry- and three scoops of vanilla ice cream. Blend it all for a few minutes and let your little ones cool down in style with this nutritious shake.

This is a slightly different cheesecake to the traditional one, it is more of a soufflé served with a sweet raspberry coulis. You will need:

• 500g cream cheese
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 175g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 142ml pot soured cream
• 300g raspberries

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
• Whip the cream cheese with the flour, sugar, eggs and soured cream until light and fluffy. Stir in half the raspberries and pour into a buttered tin. Bake for 40 minutes and then check, it should be set but slightly wobbly in the centre. Leave to cool.
• Put the remaining raspberries in a pan with 1 tbsp of sugar. Heat until juicy and then squash with a fork. Push through a sieve. Serve the cheesecake with the raspberry sauce.

This is my own version of summer fruit pudding. Instead of using sliced bread I use “lady fingers” (on the right) they are easier to manage and the children prefer their sweet taste to that of white bread.

You will need raspberries, sugar, a packet of ladyfinger biscuits and a bowl. Place the raspberries in a pan over a medium heat with sugar to your taste, depending on the acidity of your raspberries. Let them cook for about 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit juice starts to run. Don’t overcook or you will ruin the fresh fruit taste.

Line a pudding bowl with the lady finger biscuits if necessary overlap them to seal any gaps so no juice can get through when you add the fruit. Fill the lined bowl with the raspberry mixture and cover the pudding with more lady fingers. Cover with cling film and press the bowl with a plate and a heavy weight. Put in the fridge and leave to soak overnight.

Serve with ice cream or cream.

For this delicious fruity salad dressing you will need:

• one cup of olive oil
• two cups of fresh raspberries cut into halves,
• one spoon of sugar and
• two thirds of a cup of apple cider vinegar.

The dressing can be made up to one day in advance if stored in the fridge. Just mix all the ingredients in a bowl, cover and store ready for use. This vinaigrette is ideal for dressing a green leaf salad with roast chicken. It is also a great dressing for a rocket salad to go with foie grass.