National Raspberry Tart Day

August 11th in the United States is National Raspberry Tart Day.

Well, here we are with yet another raspberry day. They do tend to be in season at this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, though, and fresh raspberries are nicer than preserved fillings, although frozen raspberries can be a good alternative.

Tarts are a type of sweet dessert. In a tart, there is a pastry base which then contains a filling (which can be sweet or savoury, a savoury example would be the quiche). In this case, the filling is raspberries. If a jam tart were made, the raspberry filling would be raspberry jam (or jelly), but in this case the filling would be made using fresh raspberries. These could be mixed with custard, or placed on top of a custard base for the tart.

The pastry base itself is normally made from shortcrust pastry, but there is no reason why other suitable types of pastry, or other ingredients, couldn't be used. Pre-made pastry or bases are the easiest to use.

If a full size tart isn't wanted, then individual tartlets could also be made, each suitable for one person.

National Raspberries and Cream Day

August 7th in the United States is National Raspberries and Cream Day.

This is a rather simple dish, as it is made from only two ingredients, neither of which need cooking in order to be prepared. Raspberries are a type of fruit that is commonly in  season in the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year, and one that is widely eaten, with the red Eurasian variety being one of the more popular, and well know, species.

Cream is the layer that is higher in butterfat that is skimmed from the top of milk - usually, cow's milk - before the milk is homogenized. There are different types of cream (with the definitions varying from country to country), so there is no need to stick to one particular type when preparing this dish; you can use anything from aerosol cream to clotted cream, a thick cream which is a speciality of Devon and Cornwall in the UK, with various types in-between.

For those that are lactose intolerant, there are various non-dairy substitutes that can be used. To serve, simply put the raspberries in a dish and pour, squirt or spoon the cream over. If you can find a pick-your-own raspberry farm, or grow your own at home, so much the better.

National Raspberry Cream Pie Day

In the United States August 1st is National Raspberry Cream Pie Day.

Cream pies are a type of sweet dessert dish. The pie is a filled pie, otherwise known as a bottom or single crust pie, in which the dish is lined with pastry, but the top is left open. Flaky pastry, which is similar to puff pastry but has large lumps of shortening in it, is the most common type of pie crust used, but there are other types.

In the cream pie, the pie crust is filled with a custard or pudding filling, which is then topped with whipped cream. The custard or pudding filling can come in a variety of flavours; in a raspberry cream pie this is, of course, raspberry flavoured. The most common type of raspberry used is the more widely known Eurasian red raspberry, but others could be used, such as the purple and black varieties. The raspberries are more likely to be puréed before being mixed into the filling, rather than being used whole.

National Raspberry Cake Day

July 31st is National Raspberry Cake Day in the United States.

A raspberry cake will encompass pretty much any cake that has been made with raspberries. Cakes are, these days, normally sweet baked desserts that are related to bread, although in the past this was not the case. Determining whether a dish is a cake, bread or pastry, though, can be more of a matter of opinion.

Raspberries are an edible fruit, of which there are a number of different varieties, with the red Eurasian raspberry being one of the most common, and certainly one that many people will picture when thinking of the fruit.

A raspberry cake could be made using whole raspberries or preserved ones. Raspberries, in the form of jam, could be used in a sponge cake to separate two layers of sponge. The fruit could also be added to the cake mix directly; for example, by blending the fruit into the cake mix, which will cause the raspberries to permeate the cake and will often give it a pinkish-red colouration. Alternatively, the raspberries could simply be used to decorate the top of a cake. The raspberry cake is therefore quite a versatile creation.

National Raspberry Popover Day

National Raspberry Popover Day is on May 3rd in the United States.

Popovers can be either sweet or savoury, depending on what other ingredients are used, and what they are eaten with, and are made from an egg batter, related to that of the Yorkshire pudding, which is cooked in either muffin tins or popover pans - popover pans have straight sided walls. The cooked popover is a light and hollow roll.

This type of popover is a sweet dessert roll. The hollow centre of the popover is filled with the raspberries, or raspberry filling. Raspberries come in a variety of different types, although red varieties are the most common. Raspberries were originally a midsummer crop, which would make May an odd time to have them, but they are now available all year and, in the case of the raspberry fillings, are preserved anyway.