Framboises au Chocolat....at last, a cocktail you can eat with a spoon!

Loosely translated, Framboise au Chocolat is Raspberries in Chocolate. I had to give it a French name because it looks so "french", non? This happens to be a NonChef original as far as I can tell. I had semi sweet dark chocolate and raspberries hanging around and so I decided to come up with a dessert "cocktail" that you would need a spoon to eat, drink, or devour it. I haven't come up with the right phrase yet, but doesn't it look decadent? Mmmm yum it is! And silly rabbits out there, this is for adults.

I made enough of these for after dinner for 4; however, I must confess, I couldn't restrain myself and for 4 days straight, upon coming home from work, I ate one. Just when I was about to consume the last one, it dawned on me that I hadn't taken any pictures yet. That spoon got within an inch of the glass before I realized it. Thank god for quick thinking!

This dessert is the perfect finishing touch to a wonderful dim lit dinner for 4 and I highly recommend making it. So without further dissertation, here are the ingredients you will want. Oh, by the way, this is very easy to prepare.

1 cup of fresh raspberries
1 cup of raspberry preserves
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 packet of custard powder (instant custard, or you can make it from scratch)
2 cups of milk
4 oz. of semi sweet dark chocolate
1 packet of unflavored gelatine
1/2 cup of boiling water
1 cup of slivered almonds
1 shot glass of Kahlua (spelling?)
2 shot glasses of Framboise liquor (2 oz.)
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar

OK, from the start you will notice that I am cutting corners with the "instant" custard mix. If you want to spend the time making custard from scratch, be my guest. For most other desserts calling for custard, I would make it from scratch, but in this case it's perfectly ok to use instant. Save yourself the extra work.

We must first start out by preparing the bottom layer of this dessert cocktail, so start out by mashing the fresh raspberries with a fork, just enough to break them up and expose the sweet juices. Set them aside. In a sauce pan, pour the raspberry preserves and heat over medium low heat. Add the fresh raspberries and the 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir well and when the mixture liquifies and begins to bubble, add the Framboise liquor and continue to cook for a few minutes at low heat.

In a microwave, bring 1/2 cup of water to boiling and add the gelatime packet. Stir well so that it completely dissolves. Add this to your sauce pan with the raspberry preseves and remove from heat. Stir well. Let sit for about 3 minutes and prepare 4 large martini glasses (6 oz size), or whatever clear dessert cups you may have. Run them over very hot water and towel dry. Now fill each glass evenly with the raspberry mixture and refridgerate for at least an hour.

While the raspberry mixture is cooling, get a saute pan and add the slivered almonds and toast over medium heat (dry). Don't over toast them, but when they start turning a golden color, they're ready. Remove them from the pan and set aside.

When the raspberry mixture has cooled and stiffened, you may start your custard. In a medium pot, add the milk and custard packet and stir so that powder is well dissolved. You will want to bring the custard mixture to a full boil over medium heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan so that it doesn't stick. Just before it comes to a boil, add the chocolate and stir well so chocolate melts and blends with the custard. You may want to have slivered your chocolate if it came as a block. By the time the custard comes to a boil, the chocolate should have melted and blended well. Now add the Kahlua liquour and continue to stir. When custard comes to a boil, lower heat to low and continue to stir for another minute. Remove from heat and allow to slightly cool for about 10 minutes. You may want to place some parchment paper directly on the custard so that it doesn't develop a skin at the top. During this time, remove the glasses from the fridge so that they get the chill off.

Once cooled just a bit, carefully spoon in the mixture into the glasses. Return the glasses to the fridge and allow to set for several hours or until the custard has totally solidified. Before serving, add the whipping cream to a bowl and beat until nice peaks develop. About half way through this process, add the powdered sugar and resume beating. Add a nice layer of the toasted almonds to each of the glasses and a spoonful of whipped cream over the top and voila, you're ready to serve. Enjoy !