Pleasant House

Call me a raspberry purist—or maybe just someone on whom the irony of most raspberry desserts is not lost.

So when Art and I visited the Heritage Prairie Market Farm outside Elburn, Ill., which featured a variety of organic local meats, dairy, wines, and produce, including the farm’s own red and gold raspberries, I knew exactly how best to enjoy them: simply. These raspberries had been picked that same day, and they were as plump as if they were still stuffing themselves with sunlight out on their bushes. There was little I could do—or wanted to do—to make them any more delicious than they already were.

I love raspberries but sometimes steer clear of desserts that feature them because too often the raspberries are served cloying sweet, cooked down to the point where they’re almost a caricature of themselves. I find good, fresh local raspberries to be rather delicate yet nuanced in their flavor, best served virtually unadorned. My favorite way to eat in-season berries is how I first enjoyed the fresh mountain variety in Colorado as a teenager, with fresh cream and angel food cake.

Between the cake, the cream, and the berries, you can just about count all the ingredients on one hand. The berries can really shine! The fresh cream showcases their sugar and acidity, and the angel food cake complements their subtly, whereas most other types of cake can overpower raspberries.

Of course, if you can make your own cake with the whites of farm-fresh eggs and use heavy cream that is as thick and rich as the kind sold at the Heritage Prairie Market (Crystal Ball Farms), you will find the ultimate splendor of what is not only one of the best uses of raspberries but also one of my favorite desserts of all time.