Uses for Raspberries?? Anyone?

[retiredwith4acres]

Suggestions? I just picked a half gallon raspberries and have already done 14 jars jam. Do I freeze them whole, dehydrate them for later, make fruit roll ups???? I am new to growing raspberries, as you can tell. They are not even half finished producing and we will be gone to basket weaving convention next week. I guess I could do all the above things but not sure I will use them later , so am I wasting my time.

 

[so lucky]

Send them to me.

 

[Carol Dee]

I agree with So Lucky. If you don;t think you will use them after freezing or dehydrating. I am sure there is someone that would be delighted to have them. I would go ahead and freeze if I didn't have time to use them right now. They are great to snack on frozen. Toss a handfull on icecream or better yet make raspberry icecream.
We planted 6 plants this spring. We hope they survive and produce next summer. How many bushes do you have?

 

[NwMtGardener]

I spread mine out on cookie sheets in the freezer for a day or two, then dump them into ziplocs to store frozen. I then mostly just take out a handful for on my cereal, or to put in smoothies. I've also used the frozen berries in the winter in all kinda baked desserts...brownies, fruit cobblers, fruit bars, or raspberry sauce for on a pound cake or something.

 

[retiredwith4acres]

Carol, I have about 12 plants. Two or three were really early and I just ate those as they ripened. One bush was yellow and again I ate it early. The others are all now coming on really good. This is their second year. I didn't get any berries last year because the plants were diseased and I thought I was going to have to start over. I cut them out and cleaned around them hoping they would be OK and they are. I thought I had gotten rid of the plants that would bare in the spring and have only a fall crop. Looks like it will be a summer crop and a big one. The plants are still covered with green berries. Of course, the beetles are really liking them and getting their fill as well. I think there were 4 different kinds of plants that I ordered 3 each. I lost two or three but they have multiplied big time. I will not let them go to waste and if nothing else make more jam to give away at Christmas or sell at the church craft sale in the fall.

 

[vfem]

I just made raspberry sticky rolls! I used the pioneer woman's cinnamon roll recipe, and left out the cinnamon in half the batch and used raspberries instead. They're all sticky and gooey and raspberrily sweet! YUM! And my recipe makes about 4 dz rolls. So I whip them up in one huge batch break them down into freezer bags and then I have stick rolls for weeks to thaw out and reheat. So very yummy!


Ingredients
Dough:

1 quart whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
9 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt

Filling:

2 cups melted butter, plus more as needed
1/4 cup ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
2 cups sugar, plus more as needed

Maple Icing:

2 pounds powdered sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup strongly brewed coffee
Dash of salt
1 tablespoon maple flavoring or maple extract

Directions

For the dough: Heat the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a boil. Set aside and cool to warm. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.

Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined, and then cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a relatively warm place for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining 1 cup flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. Use the dough right away, or place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for up to 3 days, punching down the dough if it rises to the top of the bowl. (The dough is easier to work with if it's been chilled for at least an hour or so beforehand.)

To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the pan. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30 by 10 inches. The dough should be rolled very thin.

For the filling: Pour 3/4 cup to 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly. Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Don't be afraid to drizzle on more butter or more sugar! Gooey is the goal.

Now, beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly towards you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful to keep the roll tight. Don't worry if the filling oozes as you work; that just means the rolls are going to be divine. When you reach the end, pinch the seam together and flip the roll so that the seam is face down. When you're finished, you'll wind up with one long buttery, cinnamony, sugary, gooey log.

Slip a cutting board underneath the roll and, with a sharp knife, make 1/2-inch slices. One "log" will produce 20 to 25 rolls. Pour a couple of teaspoons of melted butter into disposable foil cake pans and swirl to coat. Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to overcrowd. (Each pan will hold 7 to 9 rolls.)

Repeat the rolling/sugar/butter process with the other half of the dough and more pans.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cover all the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 20 minutes before baking.

Remove the towel and bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Don't allow the rolls to become overly brown.

While the rolls are baking, make the maple icing: In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee and salt. Splash in the maple flavoring. Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency. The icing should be somewhat thick but still very pourable.

Remove the pans from the oven. Immediately drizzle the icing over the top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top. As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing's moisture and flavor. They only get better with time... not that they last for more than a few seconds. Make them for a friend today! It'll seal the relationship for life. I promise.

 

[catjac1975]

Raspberry syrup-put it over vanilla ice cream.

 

[schmije]

I'd spread them out of cookie sheets, freeze them, and dump them into ziploc bags for later. This is much better than freezing them into one giant clump.

 

[Jared77]

I'd spread them out of cookie sheets, freeze them, and dump them into ziploc bags for later. This is much better than freezing them into one giant clump.

This what we do with any extra berries we have left over. We label the bags so we know how much is in each one (how many cups) so when we want to make a pie, or syrup for dessert we know what we have. The advantage of this is you can turn them into whatever you want so your not stuck with a bunch of one thing.

 

[digitS']

I have a neighbor who grows raspberries just so he can make:

raspberry huckleberry wine . . !

Pretty good stuff! I asked him about proportions and he just said, "about half & half." And, he uses regular granulated sugar. Can't remember what he told me about the yeast. He makes raspberry huckleberry wine every year and tells me that his family did this many years ago.

Steve