Raspberry Ripe cups

 December 30-31, 2020

   

We saw out 2020 in a low-key but pleasing way - sharing food with a few friends in a local park for as long as the light lasted and the mosquitoes held off. There was no pressure to cook anything fancy or even cook at all, but after falling back on old favourite recipes all month I was ready to try making something new.

These chocolate cups fit the lowest common dietary denominator at the picnic, being both vegan and gluten-free. They're a close cousin to the Cherry Ripe, and all the better for contrasting the sourness of fresh raspberries against the creaminess of the coconut. The original recipe on My Darling Lemon Thyme includes its own formulation for 'raw' chocolate, but I was happy to simply use regular dark chocolate. I converted the volume of ingredients, came up with about a cup of chocolate chips, and found that this fell well short of what I needed to cover the filling. The double chocolate quantity listed below was a better match for me.

I expected the chocolate cups to be too large and rich for most people at the picnic, and I made sure to offer a knife for halving them. They were actually a huge hit, with people only reluctantly sharing a couple cups to make sure there were enough to go around. They're one small burst of joy that I'll be glad to bring with me into 2021.

   

Raspberry Ripe cups

(slightly adapted from My Darling Lemon Thyme)

2 cups dark chocolate
1/3 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen (don't defrost)

1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon vegan milk
2 teaspoons coconut oil

Line a muffin tray with 10 cupcake papers.

Melt the chocolate using your preferred method. Spoon just enough into each paper to cover the base, aiming to use no more than half of the chocolate. Set the chocolate in the freezer.

Set aside five of the least-squished raspberries. Place the remaining raspberries, coconut, maple syrup, milk and coconut oil in a food processor and pulse briefly to mix the ingredients together. Retrieve the muffin tray from the freezer and drop 1-2 teaspoons of the raspberry-coconut mixture into the centre of each chocolate. Gently slice the five remaining raspberries in half and place a half on top of each chocolate cup.

Check that the remaining chocolate is still melted and smooth; reheat it if needed. Spoon the chocolate over each chocolate cup to completely cover the raspberry and coconut fillings. Return the tray to the freezer to completely set the cups and store them until serving time.