Ingredient Spotlight: Thimbleberries

Thimbleberries come from thornless plants found from western and northern parts of North America, from Alaska to Ontario and Michigan. They have a striking resemblance to raspberries in that they are both red, and are made up of individual round globes with a hollow center, and are shaped like a thimble.

Thimbleberries are said to be tarter than raspberries, with more seeds. The round, globe-shaped "sections" are called drupelets, and the drupelets of a thimbleberry are more pointy-shaped than those of a raspberry, and have more seeds. The bodies of thimbleberries are larger and softer than raspberries. Since these fruits are so fragile, they do not ship well, and have not been successfully harvested commercially. They're best sought out as a wild foraged food, and are excellent in jams, cobblers, and pies.

(Image: Chris Diewald licensed for use under Creative Commons)

Comments (4)

I've seen them growing wild in Oregon as well as some parts of the Sierras. My brother-in-law has them in his garden in Reno, but I don't know if he harvests them yet. Beautiful plants, too.

posted by Anne (in Reno) on August 5th 2009 at 5:51pm
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We ate joyfully ate thimbleberries by the handfuls at Camp Westwind near Lincoln City, Oregon while we were hiking. I remember them being a very sweet,soft, flavorful berry. The soft leaves make wonderful nature's toilet paper on hikes, too.

posted by lona on August 5th 2009 at 10:21pm
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I love thimbleberries! There's something so delightful about their soft, fuzzy leaves and gorgeous, oversized berries. The fact that they can only be found in certain places adds to their mystique. My family did a lot of camping and backpacking in northern Michigan and Canada when I was growing up, and I would always look for thimbleberry patches. Once I was so caught up berry hunting that wandered away from the campsite and got lost.

posted by peachpearplum on August 6th 2009 at 8:28am
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man, i was just in northern MI (waaaay up north) this past weekend and tried thimbleberry jam for the first time. i loved it, but balked at the $10 a jar price. now i wish i had sucked it up and bought some lol.

posted by amers230 on August 6th 2009 at 9:00am
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