Raspberries are the perfect fruit for sorbet, ice cream, semifreddo and sauces. They have a bit of tartness that balances out the sweetness of many desserts. You can use frozen raspberries for any of these desserts if fresh berries aren’t in season, but you want to defrost them so they are soft before incorporating them. They will be juicy and easy to puree this way.

Red raspberries may be the most common form of the fruit, buy you can also make any of these recipes with black or purple raspberries if you have them available.

•Raspberry Sorbet

One of the most common ways to use fruit in frozen desserts is to make sorbet. Fruit sorbets are made with fruit puree, water and sugar as the base ingredients. A tablespoon or two of fruit-flavored liquor is a great addition and will help keep the texture smooth. This raspberry sorbet recipe is simple and can be made with fresh or frozen raspberries.More »

•Raspberry Ice Cream

This ice cream recipe is really more of a frozen custard, as it uses egg yolks and half and half to make a cooked custard base. Egg yolks help ice cream become even richer and creamier than before, so the raspberries are the perfect choice to cut it with a bit of tart fruit. Blend the berries down to a smooth puree and strain them to remove the seeds for a silky ice cream or leave some of the berries whole for a more interesting texture.More »

•Raspberry Sherbet

Halfway in between sorbet and ice cream is sherbet. It doesn’t have as much dairy fat as ice cream does, but it adds some milk or cream to a sorbet recipe to give a creamy texture. Although you can buy raspberry sherbet at the store, why not make it your own? Make some orange and lime sherbet too and swirl them for homemade rainbow sherbet.More »

•Raspberry Chocolate Chip Semifreddo

Semifreddo is an Italian frozen mousse that doesn’t require an ice cream freezer. With this recipe, you make a custard, fold in some whipped cream, and add fresh berries and chocolate chips. The different textures and flavors make this raspberry semifreddo an interesting frozen dessert.More »

•Raspberry Sauce Recipe

Top off any of the previous desserts (or your favorite cake, pie and ice cream) with a simple raspberry sauce recipe. All you need to make fruit sauces is water and sugar. Cook the three ingredients together in a small saucepan until everything is dissolved and the fruit falls apart. This is another option where you can puree it and strain it into a smooth sauce or leave chunks of berries for some texture.More »