Berry good With chocolate, on ice cream or all by themselves, the feminine fruit bears boundless options

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Let’s get this straight: if Eve had been tempted with raspberries rather than the apple, Adam would still be batching it in Eden, because what a woman wants is raspberries.

If you accept the feminine fruit is not the apple, not the pear, but the very dear raspberry (priced those half-pints at the grocery?) then you understand its pairing with chocolate. And the truth be known, the obsession with raspberries is directly proportional to the amount of estrogen running wild in a woman’s body. Ask a mother-to-be “raspberries or pickles and ice cream?”

I’m sorry, briny vegetables will not do.

My raspberry patch was started late in life perhaps because I live with a former County Boy who holds head-row weeds in great disdain. Or more likely it’s that the roots of the very canes I now cultivate once grew behind my childhood home, then moved to my parents’ retirement home and finally were dug up again, destined for the compost pile.

I rescued a dozen and transplanted them behind our pool filter where they receive a weekly power drink of algae water. The feeding and the take-no-prisoners pruning I learned from my neighbor and professional raspberry farmer, Jean Hay Bright of Brightberry Farm in Dixmont, yields an embarrassment of riches each July.

The treatment of choice for a fresh raspberry should be untouched. Pop a handful, sprinkle on cereal, yogurt, salads, ice cream, grilled fish or poultry. Freeze them in ice cubes and add to summer drinks. Place a plate of raspberries before your guests. Perk up any dessert with a raspberry garnish.

The life of the delicate raspberry, alas, is a short one. A quart in the refrigerator will be a quarter crushed by morning. And so the second option, recipes.

On a restaurant menu, this dessert might be listed as “Death on a Plate.” I call it: “A Reason for Living.”

The chocolate silk is the creation of Bangor caterer nonpareil John Thomas. Raspberry puree is something to put up by the quart and freeze in ice cube trays, then store in plastic bags in the freezer for a little July all winter.

If you serve “Reason for Living” to guests, consider plating in advance and refrigerating, as it takes some time and patience to neatly cut and remove the silk slices. Delegate this task to someone who is clever with his hands.

Joan Hunter Smith can be reached at north@uninets.net.

Chocolate Silk

Makes 20 servings

3 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 stick soft butter

2-1/2 squares unsweetened chocolate, thoroughly melted

In a processor, blend sugar, eggs and vanilla for 1 minute. Add butter and process 2 more minutes. With processor running, add thoroughly melted chocolate and process for another 2 minutes. Pour into a chilled butter-coated pie plate. Refrigerate. May be frozen; recipe doubles well.

Raspberry Puree

Sometimes called coulee or raspberry sauce, make this a kitchen staple. Anything that you once covered in a chocolate sauce will get a healthy lift from raspberry puree instead. Frozen berries are perfectly acceptable. Vary the recipe to suit the sweetness of your berries. It’s fine pureed and sieved with no sugar or liqueur. Remember sugar can be added, but not subtracted.

1 cup raspberries

1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon Grand Marnier orange liqueur

Puree all in a processor, then press through a large sieve to remove seeds.

Pour two tablespoons of the puree on a dessert plate. Place small slice of chocolate silk on top. Side garnish with two perfect raspberries. Just before serving, you may dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Raspberry Soup

Serves four

1 cup raspberries

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup plain yogurt

Pinch salt

Puree berries, sieve, then mix with remaining ingredients and chill thoroughly. For a feast for the eyes, also make a separate recipe substituting blackberries. Pour a ladle of blackberry soup in a chilled bowl, then a ladle of the raspberry soup in the center. Beautiful.

Raspberry Jam

5 pints raspberries, crushed (makes 5 cups crushed berries)

4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon butter

1 vanilla bean

1 box low-sugar fruit pectin

Canning wax, melted

12 8-ounce jam jars with plastic lids

Before starting recipe, run jars and lids, measure cups, spoon, pot and bowls in dishwasher on hottest cycle, then line up on counter protected with paper towels.

Pre-measure the sugar into a large bowl. Have the butter and vanilla bean ready. Place clock with second hand in view of stove. Boiling berries can be a wild beast that needs your full attention. Wear long sleeves and rubber gloves, because a splash from the boiling beast is nasty.

Crush berries in processor using pulse, not puree. You can also crush them with a potato masher. Measurements of all ingredients must be exact to get a good set.

Mix 1/4 cup of the pre-measured sugar and fruit pectin in a small bowl.

Stir pectin mixture and crushed raspberries in an 8-quart pot. Add butter and vanilla bean. Bring to a full rolling boil. Stir in all at once remaining sugar and bring to a second full rolling boil for 1 minute. Discard bean; skim off foam.

Quickly ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/8 inch space at top.

Pour melted wax on top to cover jam. Cool on counter over night, snap on plastic lids and refrigerate for up to a year. Guild the lily and serve this jam with raspberry coffee cake.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

1 cup raspberries

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch salt

1/2 cup yogurt (plain, vanilla or raspberry)

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/4 cup chopped or sliced almonds

Glaze:

1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8-inch cake pan with oil.

Mix raspberries and brown sugar, set aside. Combine flour through salt with whisk, set aside. Mix well yogurt, butter and egg. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just enough to combine. Pour half into pan. Add raspberries. Dot second half of batter over raspberries. Top with almonds.

Bake 40 minutes. Cool on a rack at least 10 minutes. May be served warm with raspberry jam or thoroughly cooled with glaze. To make glaze, whisk till smooth confectioner’s sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Raspberry Smoothie

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

1/2 banana

1/2 cup raspberry sorbet or two cubes of frozen raspberry puree

1/4 cup orange juice, buttermilk or sparkling water

Mix in a food processor or blender until smooth. 1