RASPBERRY BERET
The kind you find in a second-hand store...
Hello friends! Hope this week has been treating you well. We are not just fans of Prince’s 1985 classic song (and I guess berets in general?), we also love raspberries! So today, we are adding two new raspberry dishes to your recipe arsenal: Anthony’s super-easy, super-satisfying Lemon Raspberry Loaf, and Elizabeth’s insanely good, and insanely quick Raspberry Crunch Bars. Both make excellent use of those berries that may or may not be on the verge of growing a fuzzy coat in your fridge right now…
LEMON RASPBERRY LOAF
AU: I don’t know about you, but I love a “Snack Cake.” I’m not talking Little Debbie here (though the nostalgia for Zebra Cakes, Star Crunch, and Swiss Rolls runs deep). I’m talking about a cake that’s juuuuuust on the side of a could-be-breakfast item. Listen, we’re all adults here, so if you want to have a three-layer chocolate cake with frosting for breakfast, live your life hun! But I think we can all agree that some foods tend to toe the line between dessert and breakfast. And to me, that’s called VERSATILITY.
EK: I’ve been known to live the old saying, “Life is Short, Eat Dessert First” and “snack cake” definitely falls into breakfast territory for me—I mean what is Banana Bread, really? And that is one of my fav breakfast items...
AU: Yeah, I mean, aren’t muffins just cupcakes without icing??? Prove me wrong. Age old debate aside, I love to have a not-too-sweet cake or quickbread on the kitchen counter, especially when people are visiting. It’s nice to have something homemade that can act as a lovely accompaniment to morning tea/coffee, but can also be dressed up to serve for dessert. Something you can cut a little sliver of when you’re feeling peckish…
EK: We need to start a new meal category called Peckish! I love that word, and I love to eat something like a “snack cake” when I am feeling peckish! You need something a little sweet, but not too sweet, to give you that instant boost!
AU: Exactly! My Lemon Raspberry Loaf is just that kind of gal… She’s sweet, she’s tart, she can be a cool, casual, classic chick OR a showy, fancy lady.
AU: I love this recipe for many reasons besides the fantastic lemon-raspberry taste. First of all, it’s SO EASY, and the reward is a delicious loaf that stays moist (sorry y’all) for days. Secondly, it’s not a super-fussy recipe. If you don’t have raspberries, use blackberries, blueberries or strawberries. Don’t have lemons? Try it with zingy lime or fragrant orange! The only requirement I ask of you is to use a full-fat sour cream or greek yogurt. You don’t have to wait for a stick of butter to come to room temp (because you’re just gonna melt that sucker in the microwave!). Your eggs, should probably be closer to room temp before mixing them in, but I just take mine out of the fridge first, then measure all my ingredients. When it’s time to add the eggs to the recipe, the chill from the fridge has sufficiently worn off.
I love this loaf with a simple topping of crunchy demerara or granulated sugar, but if you’re feeling extra…
Top with a citrus glaze: 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar + 1 tablespoon of citrus juice + 1 teaspoon citrus zest. Mix ingredients in a bowl, then top loaf once it’s cooled (or as Elizabeth suggests in her book Steak & Cake, pour the glaze on while it’s still warm and let some of it sink into the crumb!)
Serve with Tangy Whipped Cream: If you buy an 8oz. tub of sour cream for this recipe, you will have 1/4 cup of it leftover from making the batter. Combine 1 cup heavy cream + 1/4 cup sour cream + 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar + 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in a bowl. Mix on low speed for about a minute, until bubbles begin to form, then crank it up to medium until soft peaks form (about 3 minutes longer). Top each slice with a mound of tangy whipped cream, and some more raspberries.
Add spices: to the dry ingredients, stir in 1 - 2 teaspoons (to taste) of your favorite dried spices to compliment the fruit. Cardamom, Ginger, Turmeric, or Poppy Seeds would be great additions!
Aww nuts!: This loaf would be absolutely dreamy with the addition of toasted chopped pistachios, almonds, or even almond flour.
Lemon Raspberry Loaf
The perfect snacking cake doesn’t exi... This easy quickbread is sweet enough to be dressed up for dessert with some tangy whipped cream (spiked with sour cream), or enjoyed as is with tea or coffee. It’s a very forgiving recipe, just make sure to use full-fat sour cream or yogurt, as they contribute necessary richness to offset the tart/sweet lemon and raspberries. Sprinkle sugar on top before baking for a crispy crunchy top crust.
Makes one 9-inch loaf
Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray or butter, for greasing loaf pan
1 ½ cups (215 grams) all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon to toss raspberries
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large lemon or 2 small ones, zested & juiced
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
¾ cup full-fat sour cream or greek yogurt
2 large eggs
1 stick (½ cup/115 grams) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (130g) fresh raspberries, gently rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons demerara sugar (like Sugar in the Raw), or granulated sugar
Method:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 4-by-9-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray or butter. If desired, you can line it with parchment, leaving some overhang, for easy removal after baking.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, so they’re evenly incorporated: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, add 1 cup sugar (200g). Zest the lemon directly over sugar, and using your fingertips, work the zest into the sugar until it’s fragrant and tinted yellow. Whisk in sour cream (or yogurt), eggs, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice from the zested lemon (If your lemon is super juicy, you can add more, but I wouldn’t use more than ¼ cup).
Using a rubber spatula, stir the wet mixture into the dry (flour) mixture, until just combined. When a few flour streaks remain, fold in the melted butter.
Toss raspberries with a tablespoon of flour in a small bowl. This will help suspend them in the batter while the loaf bakes. Gently fold the raspberries into the batter. Scrape the raspberry-studded mixture into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top with your spatula.
Sprinkle the top of the loaf with extra sugar, if using (I like to hold the loaf pan in one hand suspended over my kitchen sink, while sprinkling with the other hand, so I can get full coverage).
Bake at 350ºF for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top of the loaf is golden brown, the edges become slightly crispy, and begin to pull away from the pan. A tester inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean (unless you hit a raspberry, of course). Let cool completely in the loaf pan.
SUMMER GIVEAWAY TIME!
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This set will make Summertime grilling easy with an organized set up—take the food from the kitchen to the grill, and serve from it as well!
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RASPBERRY CRUNCH BARS
EK: Oooohhh! The only thing that rivals a sweet tart lemon raspberry snack cake is maybe my Raspberry Crunch Bars—it’s a bar that eats like a tart!
I have always loved oatmeal crunch/crumble bars made with buttery oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, pecans, a touch of cinnamon, and layered with jam. It’s like taking the yummy [fruit] crisp topping and turning it into a bar. When I got my first apartment, I was obsessed with these bars and made them all the time, but they fell off my culinary roster as I discovered new favorites.
AU: Crazy how that happens… I love a good bar. It’s like the best parts of a cookie and a fruit crisp all in one!
EK: Exactly! When I went to Primland a couple of months ago, the fabulous pastry chef, Cassidy Lewis added fresh raspberries to her “granola bars” and that got me to thinking…
What if I turned my favorite Spring/Summer raspberry crisp into a bar with the crisp topping as the crust, and just enough fruit to make it juicy and sweet and tart too?You would get the best of both the crunchy delectable topping—that people have a tendency to pick off a fruit crisp—and the ripe burst of fresh fruit and the concentrated flavor of a great raspberry jam. This would be a bar that you would eat with a fork—like a tart—because otherwise the juice would run down your arm—or stain your shirt!
EK: My original recipe used softened butter, but I decided to join Anthony on the melted butter wagon. Melted butter in baked goods is so much more convenient because you don’t have to plan in advance. The microwave is your butter buddy and it takes less than a minute to melt butter. The melted butter also distributes more evenly in the oatmeal-flour-brown sugar-pecan crumb topping which is important for making a base for the jam and the raspberries.
And, it all comes together insanely quickly! This is a dessert that you can literally throw together while you are drinking your morning coffee to serve that night or the next day. You’ll store it in the fridge, so it will be good for as long as it lasts!
Because the raspberries are naturally juicy, I bake the bottom crust before topping, so it will be crunchy and not soggy. If you’ve made lemon bars before, it is the same concept.
Once the crust is set, you need to let it cool for about 10 minutes, so that the jam doesn’t instantly melt. Make sure you use a low-sugar, best-quality raspberry jam because the crisp “crust” is sweet, and you need the contrast of tart and sweet to make this a success. Once the jam is set, it’s time for the fun part, placing the raspberries on top of the jam! Use what you have, just make sure that they are evenly distributed. I had a lot of raspberries that I needed to use up so I covered the crust.
Finish by sprinkling with the reserved topping, and bake! That’s all there is to it! It does need to firm up in the fridge and if you make these at night like I did, no one will blame you if you have a piece straight out of the fridge for breakfast in the morning—I did just that!
Raspberry Crunch Bars
If you are one of those people who like the buttery-oatmeal-brown-sugar-pecan crisp topping a little bit more than the fruit in a Berry Crisp, then this “bar” is for you. It’s equal parts crunch crisp topping made into a crust and juicy sweet tart raspberry jam and fresh raspberries. Because you are using both jam and the fresh fruit, you are maximizing the raspberry flavor in a small layer and I think it is a better “fruit crisp” experience than a fruit crisp! [It’s actually more like a tart than a bar or a fruit crisp.] It’s too juicy to eat with your hands unless you like that over-the-sink-experience (think summer tomatoes sandwich). Put a cold slice—or a square—on a plate and eat it with a fork. Now you can live your crisp topping with a little fruit for flavor dreams!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
¼ cup granulated white sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned whole-rolled oats (don’t use quick or instant)
½ cup pecans, broken into pieces
Pinch of salt
¾-1 cup of best-quality raspberry jam
6-10 ounces of raspberries
Baker’s Joy
Vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream, optional
Equipment: 8 x 8 baking pan
Method:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Spray an 8×8-inch square pan with Baker’s Joy or you can line with a parchment paper sling*, set aside.
In a large microwave-safe bowl melt the butter and reserve 2 tablespoons.
Add the sugars and cinnamon and stir to combine. Add the flour, oats, pecans and salt. Stir to combine, making sure that the butter is mixed throughout the dry ingredients. It should have a sand-like texture.
Reserve 1 cup of the oatmeal-pecan mixture for the topping.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the mixture and mix well. Press the oatmeal-pecan mixture into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes to set crust. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Evenly spread the raspberry preserves over the crust making sure you cover the entire crust. The jam should be about 1/8th of an inch thick, but don’t worry if it is a little thicker in places.
Top jam with raspberries and make sure that they are evenly distributed—I used almost 2 pints, but if all you have is 1 pint, that’s fine as long as they are evenly distributed.
Evenly sprinkle with the reserved oatmeal-pecan crisp topping mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes or until edges are lightly brown and the crisp topping is lightly golden brown on top.
Place pan on a wire rack and allow bars to cool for at least 2 hours before refrigerating. Once cool, refrigerate covered for 5 hours or overnight to set.
Remove from pan and cut into portions with a pastry cutter/bench scraper or a knife. Serve with a fork and if you want to gild the lily add ice cream and or homemade whipped cream.
Note: If you have never used a parchment sling, take 2 pieces of parchment that are about 12-14 inches long and fold them in half. Place one piece North-South and the other piece East-West so that they overlap. You will be pressing the crust into these pieces so that it is easy to remove the baked bars. Alternatively, you can refrigerate them 5 hours or overnight and they will come out in one “slab.”
That’s it for this week! As always, if you make our recipes, tag us on the ‘gram (@kitchensitch & @elizabethkarmel), and use the hashtag #whats4dinner. Happy cooking!!