AFAM - Raspberries

A Fruit A Month is a monthly event started by Maheshwari of Beyond the Usual. The theme for May 2008 is Raspberry and is hosted by Dee of Ammalu's kitchen. Dee invited all to join the AFAM - Raspberries party this month and I'm bringing the dessert! Paaartaaay! This is my first AFAM event. My submission is the "Raspberry-laced vanilla cake" that I made for our Wedding Anniversary.

This is the picture of the raspberries when we went raspberry picking at a fruit farm. We got it along with some apples in the late summer, so I guess they were double/ever-bearing plants.

Raspberries:

The raspberry is the edible fruit of a number of plant species in the subgenus Idaeobatus of the genus Rubus; the name also applies to these plants themselves. Several other species, mostly closely related in the same subgenus Idaeobatus, are now also called raspberries. Rubus strigosus is the American Red Raspberry.Two types of most commercially grown kinds of raspberry are available, the summer-bearing wild type that produces an abundance of fruit within a relatively short period in mid-summer, and double- or "ever"-bearing plants, which also bear fruit in the late summer and fall, as well as the summer crop on second-year canes (wiki). Raspberry plants have many uses and benefits. The leaves have silver-white undersides and can be used fresh or dried in herbal teas. It is believed that raspberry leaves can be helpful for a sore throat, as well as various stomach ailments, and a tea made with raspberry leaves has been used throughout history to encourage speedy childbirth. Xylitol, an alternative sweetener made from sugar alcohol, is extracted from raspberries. Raspberries also contain polyphenol antioxidants which promote cardiovascular health. Above all, raspberries are excellent in jams, pies, as dessert toppings. Of course they taste the best when taken fresh! (Source). For more facts and picking tips on raspberries, click here.

Fun Fact:

Did you know that there is a rock and roll band called The Raspberries who were popular in the 1970s?