National Raspberry Cake Day is jubilantly feasted each year on July 31st. Therefore, today is the day to enjoy raspberry cake. Because it is a cool and refreshing dessert. And, is indeed a summertime favorite around the United States.
- Raspberries are the edible fruit of the plant that belongs to the genus Rubus of the rose family.
- A raspberry is made up of many tiny bead-like fruits called “drupelets” clustered around a center core. Each drupelet contains one seed, and an average raspberry has 100 to 120 seeds
- One raspberry bush can yield several hundred berries a year.
- A single raspberry has a hollow core once it is removed from the receptacle.
- Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber.
- Raspberries contain vitamin B1, vitamin B3, folic acid, magnesium, copper, and iron.
- The word “raspberry” seems to come from the Old French raspise, a term meaning “sweet rose-colored wine”.
- Raspberries are a type of fruit known as aggregate fruit. Aggregate fruits have flowers with multiple ovaries and each ovary produces druplets around a core formed by the flower. Each druplet could actually be considered a separate fruit.
- There are over 200 different known species of raspberries but only 2 species are grown on a large scale.
- The term “raspberry” for a flapping noise made with the tongue and mouth seems to have originated in the Cockney dialect of England. The sound was originally called a raspberry tart and was later shortened to raspberry.
- People in Eastern Asia, where raspberries are believed to have originated, used the fruit as a sore throat remedy and teeth cleaner.
- The people of Troy, in modern-day Turkey, were the first to note an appreciation of the raspberry fruit.
- 4 A.D. saw the first writings on the cultivation of raspberries.
- Phytonutrients from raspberries can be an effective treatment for high blood pressure and inflammation of the joints. They’re also beneficial for the normal functioning of the liver.
- Raspberry ketone, a compound isolated from the raspberry has application in the cosmetic industry for the production of shampoos, lotions, creams and perfumes.
- Russia is the biggest raspberry manufacturer in the world. It produces about 125,000 tons of raspberries per year.
- The saying “You can’t have you cake and eat it”(originally “eat your cake and have it”) is first seen in print in 1562 in John Heywood’s ‘Proverbs and Epigrams.’
- The proverb ‘a piece of cake’ was not coined until the 20th century.
- Raspberries are either red, purple, gold or black in color. Golden raspberries are a bit sweeter than the other varieties.
- In the US, about 90% of all raspberries sold come from Washington, California and Oregon.
- Raspberry leaf tea has been used to reduce the length of labor.
- In some countries, raspberries are symbolic and are used to ward off evil spirits.
- When ripe raspberries are harvested from the plant, the stem remains on the mother plant, leaving the hole in the middle of the fruit.
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