Have a sweet, beautiful start to the New Year

Like the start of a new year, chocolate dessert cups waiting to be filled are brimming with possibilities.

One way for a sumptuous and healthful treat is to load the cups with cannoli-style ricotta cream and fresh raspberries. Accented with mint leaves and showered with powdered sugar, it’s a dessert that has the sparkle and elegance to match a glass of bubbly and set just the right mood to ring in the New Year.

Depending on what you are up for, preparing them can be a total breeze. You could purchase premade chocolate cups, or for a relatively easy project in the kitchen, you could make your own.

To go the DIY route, you’ll need a set of minimuffin-sized silicone baking cups and a small, clean paint brush. Start by melting the chocolate in a double boiler. I use a shortcut tempering method where most of the chocolate is melted initially, but some is held back and stirred in to melt once the bowl is off the heat. This helps bring the temperature of the chocolate down gradually and yields a better-quality final product.

Then, fill the silicone cups about one-third of the way with melted chocolate,

and use the paintbrush to spread it evenly to the top of the cup. Once the cups chill in the refrigerator for a halfhour, you pop them out of the liners.

The rest of the recipe is effortless:

You make the ricotta cream by beating the cheese until smooth, sweeten it lightly with powdered sugar and brighten it with a touch of lemon zest. Then, dollop the cream into the cups, top with the raspberries and add a mint leaf to each.

The result is a beautiful dessert, which is just as I hope the year ahead will be: sweet, healthy and filled with good things.