Saffron Raspberries Recipe
Beautiful raspberries tossed with saffron brown sugar, vanilla paste, olive oil, and toasted almonds.
Raspberries are incredibly fragile, which is why, for most of the year, I pass them up. When they're flown in from a far-flung farm, or sit on shelves for any amount of time, I can tell. They get sad, their color darkens, and eventually mold sets in stealthily from the bottom of the basket. The mold. You'll likely discover it after you get the berries home. So, I wait until local berries start showing up at the farmers' market. And it's worth it. I can only hope the raspberries where you live are as impressive as what I'm seeing here right now - basket after basket filled with ruby gems. They have luminescent color, good structure, drupelets filled with sweet raspberry juice, ready to pop. This quick, saffron-sugared raspberry bowl is the best thing I've made with them this year - and you likely have the ingredients on hand. There's a bit of lemon zest, some vanilla bean paste, olive oil, and toasted almonds for contrast to the softness of the raspberries.
My sense is this would also be a nice flavor profile for a pie or tart. If the raspberries where you're from rarely look good? Substitute a berry that does - strawberries would taste great here, and I'm imagining a blackberry version could be nice as well. Start with great fruit, and go from there. A dollop of yogurt or sweetened creme fraiche is one way to make it all the more decadent. And one favorite weekend breakfast shaped up to be equal parts saffron berries, Greek yogurt, and Marge's original granola - xo Megan!
I do have one regret. Golden raspberries made their annual debut here just about five minutes after I shot these pics. And they'd be perfect. So, if you can get your hands on those, use them :) xo -h
Premium Ad-Free membership includes:
-Ad-free content
-Print-friendly recipes
-Spice / Herb / Flower / Zest recipe collection PDF
-Weeknight Express recipe collection PDF
-Surprise bonuses throughout the year
Saffron Raspberries
HS: This preparation was intended for raspberries. That said, if the raspberries you come across aren't great, consider swapping another berry - blackberries might be particularly nice.
1 pound of berries (3 baskets)
1 1/2 tablespoons natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
1/16 teaspoon saffron threads (~20 threads)
1 2-inch segment vanilla bean
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a handful of golden raisins (or chopped dates)
1/2 cup / 40 g sliced almonds, toasted
zest of one lemon
Pick over the berries well, discarding any that are off. And brush away any dirt or debris with a damp cloth. Place in a large serving bowl.
Use a mortar and pestle to grind the brown sugar with the saffron threads. Run a knife along the inside of the vanilla bean, to remove the paste, and add that to the saffron sugar as well. Add the olive oil, and stir to combine. Use a spoon to stir in the raisins, almonds, and lemon zest.
Around the time you want to serve this, pour most of the almond mixture over the berries. As gently as you can manage, fold together - folding and jostling the bowl to coat the berries. You want a few of the berries to break up, but not much more than that. Let sit for five minutes or so. Do one last fold, top with the remaining nut mixture, and serve.
Serves 4-6.
Prep time: 7 minutes
Comments are closed.
Apologies, comments are closed.
Comments
Saffron, my favorite. I love this idea. Only, living in the high mountains makes berries very scarce. Soon, we'll have nice ones from afar though. Can't wait to try this. Thank you!
I would LOVE this with yoghurt, for an indulgent, sophisticated breakfast.
Just gorgeous! We've been in berry heaven here in the northeast lately so I definitely see this making it to my breakfast table sometime this week.
What a lovely idea. Our raspberries are coming into season. There is saffron in our pantry, and a beautiful marble pestle and mortar atop our counter that I received as a gift. I know what I will be putting together this weekend after a visit to our farmer's market! Thanks for the wonderful post.
Is there anything you won't add toasted almonds to? :)
Not much ;)
I think the berries this year are just awesome! Even the blueberries are bursting with flavor! I adore saffron, but never would have thought to put it in a sweet recipe. And that's why I love you :)
This sounds like a total delight! I can get good raspberries for a short time during the summer, but I'll definitely save this recipe for then!
This looks so amazing! I love berries so much, and am missing them during winter.
This sounds so amazing. Saffron and fruit! I just started seeing better-looking raspberries at the market and will have to try this soon. Thanks, Heidi!
I adore the use the use of saffron with fruits. It has a middle eastern , Arabian night feel for me. Figs are also great with saffron too, the salty sweetness of the seed mix is too addictive. We only get golden raspberries for 2 months of the year. so rare but they are best raspberries in my opinion
The flavours going on here have me salivating! Such a lovely way to serve a seasonal fruit - the perfect way to end a meal I think! A truly inspired idea.
Beautiful pictures as always and a very nice combination! I've been eating cherries & strawberries for the past 2 weeks! Raspberries haven't arrived here yet, and I doubt they'll ever will...Im in Andalusia you see...but I enjoy them through your pictures, so thank you!
How wonderful, I love the idea of the saffron with the raspberry for a perfect flavour contrast.
This is such a brilliant and simple way to savor the berries. I can imagine how beautiful the gold raspberries would be...
how i wish i get raspberries in India and yes i know the mold is mostly discovered only after you get home. Happens with strawberries here mostly!
This sounds awesome! I'd so love to lay my eyes on golden raspberries at least once in my life...
Raspberries are my favourite summer berry but you are right, you have to catch them at the right time or they do look and taste a little sad. This looks like a fantastic way to use them and so easy! I love the mix of sweet and savoury flavours.
Such a delicious use of saffron here. Love the savory and sweet notes :)
I love raspberries and your last comment about golden raspberries appearing right after you took these pics - I have never even had those. Or heard of them. But now I have to have them! Hopefully San Diego has something as good as the Bay Area in that regard!
I love this idea! The line between sweet and savory is one of my favorites to blur. I haven't seen golden raspberries here yet, but I'll be looking out for them! I bet this would be fantastic with blood orange too!
Comments are closed.
Apologies, comments are closed.