Marionberry Shortcake

Summer brings special culinary rewards that simply do not exist at other times of the year. For me, one of the most delicious is the marionberry, a hybrid from Marion County, Oregon. It is a happy marriage of the red raspberry and the blackberry, a velvety, intensely flavorful berry that resembles the king variety of blackberry in shape but with a reddish purple hue. The marionberry is far less bitter than the raspberry and far less seedy than the blackberry—a perfect balance of sweet tart