MAKE DESSERT A CREAMY CUP OF JOY
Elegant yet easy chocolate treat filled with sweetened, smooth ricotta
Chocolate dessert cups waiting to be filled are brimming with possibilities. Here, that potential is realized in a sumptuous and healthful treat, loaded with cannolistyle ricotta cream and fresh raspberries. Accented with mint leaves and showered with confectioners’ sugar, it’s a dessert that has the sparkle and elegance to match a glass of bubbly and set just the right mood.
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 mini-muffin-size silicone baking cups and a small, clean paint brush. With these tools at hand, you then melt 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, in what feels like a relaxed arts-and-crafts
project, you fill the silicone cups about a 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 half-hour, you pop them out of the liners. It’s not hard to do, but a couple may crack in the process, so I suggest making a few extra to account for that.
The rest of the recipe is effortless: You make the ricotta cream by beating the cheese until smooth, sweeten it lightly with confectioners’ sugar and brighten it with a touch of lemon zest. Then, dollop the cream into the cups, top with the raspberries, add a mint leaf to each, and shower them all with confectioners’ sugar.
The result is a beautiful dessert, which is just as I hope this year will be — sweet, healthy and filled with good things.