French Desserts •
Cranachan Parfait (Iced Scottish Dessert)
French raspberries, their fruity facts including health benefits and links to raspberry dessert recipes using them.
French Raspberry Season
Spring and Summer; May – September, with certain varieties until October.
Random Facts about Raspberries in France
- The raspberry is the edible conical fruit of the rose family, of the genus Rubus, of which there are over a thousand varieties. This includes the blackberry (mûre);
- Born to be wild throughout the mountainous regions of Europe. Today look for wild raspberries particularly in the Vosges, Auvergne and the Alps;
- Raspberries in the Renaissance were used for medicinal purposes and didn’t become eaten as a table fruit until the 19th century;
- Health Benefits: according to Aprifel, raspberries are a good source of vitamin C, B9 and manganese;
- Raspberry leaves: It’s not just the fruits that are good for you – so are the leaves, as a good antioxidant. Our local pharmacies sell herbal infusions of raspberry leaves (feuilles de framboisier). Infusing the leaves in boiling water for 10-20 minutes helps calm women’s period pains and constipation;
- At the local market and supermarkets, normally sold in punnets of 125 g (4.5oz);
- Storage: Particularly fragile, so consume as quickly as possible. No need to wash;
- Food pairing: delicious topped on chocolate desserts, on trifles, on honey desserts, ice creams, added to almond tarts, and topped on rice pudding (or this almond milk rice pudding), crème caramel and financiers;
- Pierre Hermé first created the Paradis rose and raspberry cake at Fauchon in 1987 and, following its success with such flavours, created the Ispahan macaron, while at Ladurée with the combo of raspberry, rose and lychee (see more on Ispahan);
- In Dijon, raspberries are made into a liqueur much like the crème de cassis in Dijon and often used to make the French apéritif drink, le Kir;
- Many French pastry chefs cut raspberries in half for beautiful decor. Fill the cavities with coulis or pastry cream for special effect.
raspberries with financier cakes
