Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Raspberry Mess



Mmmm, berry season. Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries. I love them all. And looking over the list of recent recipes, it occurred to me that I don't have one single dessert recipe other than the banana cake, so it is high time I passed along one that is easy and seasonal and good and good for you, right?

While I am pretty vigilant about having a home-cooked meal on the table most nights, when it comes to dessert I usually let the troops fend for themselves. There is usually a plate or jar of homemade something on the counter that either Emma or I have made (Emma is getting to be an accomplished chocolate chip cookie-maker), and there is always ice cream in the freezer, but unless it is a special occasion I don't usually make a special dessert. But every once in a while I get inspired by either some seasonal ingredient or a particular recipe - or in this case, both!
First of all, Fairway had a stack of these gorgeous berries piled up right by the door, and look at them -- how could I resist? And then I remembered this recipe from Everyday Food that I torn out (mainly because of the name) and it was short and sweet enough that I was able to recall the needed ingredients right on the spot, which are: the berries, heavy cream, and a package of those meringue cookies -- you know, the little round ones that come in the plastic tub. This is the brand I usually find:

And all you do is this: Whip up the heavy cream, crumble the cookies into chunks and fold the cookie chunks and some of the raspberries into the cream, puree the rest of the raspberries with a little sugar until they are liquified into a sauce and drizzle that on top with a few extra raspberries for garnish. Takes no time at all, it it comes out looking like THIS!




I mean, I ask you: where can you find a dessert that is more dramatically beautiful AND so easy to make? And it tastes every bit as good as it looks, I promise.

If you want to try this little number for yourself, here is the link to the recipe. My only adjustment was to add about 1/4 cup of sugar to the cream as it was whipping, otherwise I find it to be a little bit too plain. Aside from that, it is pretty close to being the perfect summertime dessert, if you are a raspberry fan like me!

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