I look forward to the salmonberries ripening every summer. Unlike the PNW, here in my part of AK the salmonberries don’t ripen until late July or early August. For those who are unfamiliar with salmonberries, they are a berry that are similar to the raspberry in form. They range from yellow to deep purply red. Salmonberries are a little larger and watery than raspberries and they are not as sweet. They are my favorite and I make a variety of things.
This week I tried out the NYTCooking Blackberry Crisp with Cardamom Custard Sauce and made it with salmonberries (the custard sauce isn’t pictured). Following the suggestions of the commenters, I added cornstarch to the filling so it would be less soupy. I also upped the cardamom in the custard sauce because I love cardamom. It was a hit with my family and I bet it would be equally good with blackberries.
And the crowning glory of my salmonberry creations is the salmonberry tart. I make it each summer using Cook’s Illustrated’s Classic Fresh Fruit Dessert recipe. It consists of tart pastry, pastry cream, fresh salmonberries, and salmonberry jam for glaze. It’s a little involved, but the results are worth it. Each bite tastes like summer and is so delicious!
I get excited about fancy desserts and use it as an excuse to dress up and take ridiculous photos. This is from last summer. You can see how excited I was
UPDATE:
Made a tart last weekend and took some photos. Did a costume change because I couldn’t decide what to wear
Those look so lucious! I was born and raised in the Seattle area so I’m used to salmonberries that are much more “salmon” colored (orangey/pink), I didn’t even know that they had that wide of a range in color!
That’s a fancy tart! I love cobbler and jam, too… one of these days I will have to taste some salmon berries- they look delicious! And your excited pic is awesome! I’d love to see this year’s!
Mmmmmmmmmmmm! That looks delicious!
One on my favorite travel food memories is olallieberry pie in Oregon. If I encounter salmonberries, I will remember this post and jump on them!
These grow all over BC & I think the prairies too but nowhere near me & I never tried them when I lived in the mountains. I have the regrets now because it all looks so delicious! And of course you are adorable modelling that lovely tart. I had to look up AK, it’s north of almost everywhere!
I’m not sure what causes the color variations. There are definitely different varieties. The plants that ripen to yellow-orange berries here we call “Russian berries” even though they are just a variety of salmonberry.
I haven’t done a photo for this year, but when I do I will update the post!
Your tart looks delicious The crisp sound so good, cardamom is always a hit in my opinion.
Your post brought up a forgotten memory for me. I worked in the PNW for a field season doing owl work many years ago. None of us were from the region and we were really intrigued by salmonberries for whatever reason. We finally found a bush and there are just 4 of us clustered around this bush staring at it like it’s an alien being trying to decide if the fruit was salmonberries and if we were wrong how sick would we be. The little bush we found didn’t have many berries and they were not as pretty as yours.
Congratulations! Your great craft is one of this week’s Featured Projects!
The crisp sound so good, cardamom is always a hit in my opinion.
The little bush we found didn’t have many berries and they were not as pretty as yours.