The Washington Red Raspberry Commission (WRRC) has launched its newest set of resources focused on baking with frozen Washington red raspberry formats. These resources were created in partnership with the Bread Bakers Guild of America (BBGA), King Arthur Flour, the Washington State University (WSU) Breadlab, and Solveig Tofte of Sun Street Bakery in Minneapolis. The partnership was formed as part of a Baking Collaborative grant awarded to the WRRC from the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
These new, complimentary baking resources are now available on redrazz.org/baking and have been approved by the American Culinary Federation (ACF) for up to 7.25 Continuing Education Hours (CEH). Resources are broken into six, easy-to-follow lessons that baking professionals or culinary instructors can utilize for professional education or instruction.
The resources include the Baking & Pastry with Washington Red Raspberries toolkit, which covers the various frozen Washington red raspberry formats, natural flavor and color, and baking and pastry tips and formulas, along with instructional videos from the WRRC’s Bakin’ and Shakin’ series featuring Chef Zak Miller of the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute (NOCHI). Additional videos are featured showcasing some of the baking and pastry techniques covered in the toolkit.
“We’re thrilled to share these new resources showcasing how easy it is to use Washington red raspberries in baking and pastry applications with a larger baking and culinary audience,” says Henry Bierlink, executive director, WRRC. “We spent a great deal of time crafting and refining these resources with our Baking Collaborative partners to ensure they bring value to those using them and look forward to seeing more baking and pastry items that are naturally colored and flavored using Washington red raspberries in the future!”
In addition to the new resources, the WRRC has been busy expanding its baking and culinary focus through several key events and initiatives as part of its Baking Collaborative partnership. Last October, it hosted the first Baking Collaborative workshop with partners at the WSU Breadlab where nine west-coasted bakers were able to test and provide feedback on the initial draft of the Baking & Pastry toolkit. The toolkit was then transformed into a curriculum and presented to culinary instructors by Chef Samantha Cowen Gasbarro at the CAFÉ Leadership Conference over the summer.
This year, the WRRC also hosted two events in partnership with the BBGA, including a 2-day, in-person event, combining a Washington red raspberry harvest tour and hands-on training using the toolkit, and a virtual training featuring Cheryl Day of Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, GA. Earlier this month, the WRRC also sponsored a Pastry webinar with Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery led by Emily McPhee of Rubicon Bakers that highlighted using Washington red raspberries for natural flavor and color.
