The wineberry plant is a bramble with red, bristly stems that grows up to 8 feet tall. The berry is bright red when ripe and I would describe it as a raspberry with a twist of cranberry - slightly tart. It can be found along roadsides and the edges of meadows.
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The wineberry is an Asian species which was introduced to produce hybrid raspberries. The plant escaped from cultivation and became naturalized and in many cases invasive. Right now we're calling ours "deliciously naturalized" but as soon as we have to clear out the back field we'll be using the term invasive....and possibly some others.
Wineberries ripen about the same time as blackberries and raspberries; here they came in full force as the blackberries faded away. We can collect buckets full, so I'm trying them out in place of other berries in some classic recipes. Last night I made cobbler; here's a link to the recipe I used.
The kids and I experimented with juicing them and made wineberry spritzers
Since this idea is still in development, I'll spare you the recipe...let's just say it needs some tweaking.
Tomorrow I may try jelly if I feel brave.
That cobbler recipe looks so, so yummy. I love the Pioneer Woman!
ReplyDeleteWe used to pick these a kids on my aunt's farm, scratches be damned. My Aunt June would make delicious pies. I think she mixed them with blackberries we picked. Last night Molly made a very yummy berry tart that these would probably work well in also. I'll ask her when she gets up. That should be about noonish : )
ReplyDeleteMollie, Suite maintenant!
Every child should have berry picking memories : ) They would be very nice in a tart.
ReplyDeleteI love the Pioneer Woman. I wish I knew how to set-up a site like that!