At this time of year, berries are in abundance in every marketplace. Whether you are looking for strawberries, blackberries or raspberries, now is the time of year to find some fabulously tasty ones.
In the Pacific Northwest, in Washington State in particular, berries are super abundant both in the supermarket, Pikes Place Farmer’s Market in Downtown Seattle and at berry stands along the roads. In an article appearing on the KUOW website, baker Charlie Dunmire is carefully choosing which berries will be making an appearance in the cakes that she will be offering her clients and customers.
“Blackberries and raspberries are perfect for cakes right now because you can just stuff them in between the layers,” Dunmire said. “You don’t have to cook them down or anything, it’s so nice.”
This sort of unpretentious, natural approach is particularly appealing in wedding cakes. At Dunmire’s cake shop, Deep Sea Sugar and Salt, they receive an average of wedding cake orders each month and that has them very busy indeed. The area around the Puget Sound seems a natural fit for all of the different types of taste combinations that she has in mind. Dunmire says she’s always on the lookout for new tastes that go well together.
During the interview she ends up sampling some honey wine called mead. One of the meads that she tries is infused with rose and cardamom. Immediately she is reminded of a cardamom cake she makes in her shop and knows that it would work well with such an interesting flavor combination.
Maybe, she’ll top such a creation with some of the fresh raspberries she’s found in the marketplace and add a bit of rose whipped cream to make it just the kind of thing that would go perfect for a wedding or other special occasion.
