raspberry heaven float

The other night, as I was cutting through the Market at the end of the business day, I noticed, to my delight, that one of the farmers was selling off the day’s leftover raspberries for only one dollar. Having a weakness for raspberries, I of course bought a package, thinking it would be for dessert.

As I walked home, my mind flashed to summer afternoons on the Ile d'Orléans, just outside Quebec City, where, as a little girl, I would gobble up pints of raspberries with brown sugar and heavy cream.

Thought of all the desserts I could create with my newly found beauties. My initial thought for was raspberries with cream and brown sugar, a treat I used to have when I was a little girl summering on the Ile d’Orléans outside of Quebec City. My evil plan quickly came to a halt when we had neither cream, nor milk.

So, plan B slowly developed, in stages….

First I muddled raspberries in a glass, with a bit of brown sugar. Then I poured in about 2 oz of vodka, and filled the rest of the glass with club soda. The result was quite pulpy, but the colours were beautiful, the deep red of the fruit staining the clear liquid a delicate pink. It settled strangely, with the pulp on the top and bottom but leaving a middle section of drink that was clear.  I strategically placed my straw and started drinking happily.

After a few sips, however, I was starting to be overwhelmed by the pulp and seeds. Back to the kitchen I went, grabbing the mesh strainer as I danced with glee. I pressed the pulp really well through and added ice cubes and more brown sugar. I felt that I almost had it, but it lacked the creaminess required to mimic my favourite childhood desert. I continued drinking and pondering.

And then it dawned on me. ‘Oh my god’, I exclaimed, startling the cat from her slumber. ‘We have vanilla ice cream!!’ so out came the ice cubes, and in went two scoops of vanilla ice cream (the really good stuff, where you can see the flecks of black vanilla bean). I topped it off with a bit more vodka and soda and sprinkled it with more brown sugar. Finally, it was almost perfect.

Next time, I’m rimming the glass with raspberry juice and brown sugar.