Cashew Cream and Raspberries

The beginning of September has arrived and we have had a couple of cooler evenings. A slight chill in the air is rather refreshing. It signals a change of season. Instead of cool summer salads it's time to think about warm, nourishing soups. In the meantime, we have lots of raspberries in our garden,

My favorite way to eat raspberries is to go out to the garden, pick enough to fill a small bowl, add a little maple syrup and enjoy . I pick only the really dark ripe berries, the ones that must be eaten immediately. They taste so good.

Sometimes I have so many, much more than we can eat, and I make raspberry syrup. I wash the berries, and cook them for a few minutes, then pass them through a sieve to remove the seeds, add maple syrup to taste, and freeze. You can also store in the refrigerator for about a week. The syrup makes great smoothies and can be drizzled on cake or added to trifle or pudding.

We just received some really creamy, organic cashew butter so I combined the cashew butter and the raspberries for a quick dessert.



Cashew Cream

1/2 cup cashew butter
1/4 cup maple sugar
1/8 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup soy milk
2T lemon juice
1/2T vanilla extract

Combine the cashew butter, maple sugar, maple syrup, soy milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a food processor, Process for two to three minutes until smooth. Refrigerate until cold. Spoon over raspberries and drizzle with raspberry syrup.