Sugared Raspberries

Here's an old method for preserving fruit with a fresh taste without cooking. The juicy crushed berries make a nice spread for bread, and a delicious filling for cake. Sugared berries will keep for a year or longer under refrigeration. You can prepare blackberries or strawberries the same way, but raspberries seem to do and taste best. Adapted from The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. Raspberries are grown all over the United States and Europe, and belong in the New Englan, Mid Atlantic, Southern, Mid West, Eastern European, French, Australian, and Scandinavian catagories.

• Ready In: 10 mins
• Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients

• 2  cups  fresh unblemished raspberries (about 1 pound)
• 2  cups granulated sugar

Directions

1. Carefully pick over the berries, removing leaves, foreign objects, and spoiled berries. Place the berries in a mixing bowl, and pour the sugar over them.Use two large forks to mash the sugar into the berries until they are liquified and there is no trace of whole berries left. Don't use a blender, it will pulverize seeds, and they should be left whole.
2. Transfer to jars and refrigerate 2 days before using. They will keep one year refrigerated.