DIPPED BERRY BITES

Freeze-dried fruits are a baker’s dream: explosions of flavour that burst with sweetness. You can find them in the baking aisle of most supermarkets – they’re not cheap, but you don’t need much. These bites combine freeze-dried raspberries with the marzipanlike flavour of almond butter.

Makes around 14

20g (¾oz) freeze-dried raspberries (see above)

170g (6oz) white almond butter (this is without the skins, so it’s pale in colour – if you can’t find it in health food shops or online, normal almond butter is fine) 100g (3½oz) white chocolate

Put the freeze-dried raspberries in a blender and blitz to a fine powder. Stir the raspberries into the almond butter until fully combined. Run a dessert spoon coated in almond butter around the inside of your blender if you can’t get all the raspberry dust out – it’ll pick it up like a vacuum cleaner. Roll small balls of the mixture between your palms (they should be around the size of a 20p piece) and arrange them a couple of centimetres apart on a plate lined with greaseproof paper. You may need wet hands to do this, as it can be a little sticky. Place the bites in the freezer for 1½ hours to harden.

Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, or in a microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring in between so it doesn’t burn. Allow to cool slightly. Remove the bites from the freezer, let them soften for a few minutes and re-roll into spheres (they will flatten as they freeze). Using a teaspoon or fork to hold them, dip the bites one by one in the cooled chocolate. Work fast – you don’t want the filling to go too soft. Place back on the greaseproof paper and use a cocktail stick to tidy the edges and create a neat swirl on top. Put the bites back in the freezer for 1 hour 30 minutes to set. They should keep for a week in the fridge.