Amalfi Coast Raspberry Mascarpone Desserts

If you’ve never visited ‘Coffee on the Porch-Camden, Maine‘ then you don’t have to go any further than Facebook!  Here you’ll find a down-home entrepreneur, Dan, who started his business with a passion for a really good cuppah coffee.  Now, if you’re a java lover and somewhat of a coffee snob like me, then you know when you’ve had an extraordinary cup of coffee!  And, my thinking is that if I’m going to have some extra caffeine in my day, then it’d better come from THE best beans that are out there.  Dan is a licensed Maine coffee roaster~~I never knew you had to have a license to roast coffee beans!  And, he ships his beans shortly after they’ve been roasted, so you know they’re fresh.

So, that’s partially how this dessert was inspired.  The second inspiration came from buying a set of ‘tasting’ serving dishes (well, a set) from Pier One.  This store has some of the darn cutest serving pieces, and they’re fairly reasonably priced.  What I liked about this set was that there were several pieces (yes, the petite clear glasses), small spoons and a tray.  Not sure is these are still available, but check Pier One!  Another great feature of these tasting serving dishes is that I consider them portion controlled–I mean you only get a tasting, which  after a yummy meal, should satisfy a craving for dessert.  Sometimes when we have placed in front of us a big ol’ hunk of cake, a piece of pie with ice cream, and other large portions, we feel ‘compelled’ to eat it!  Don’t know about you, but I grew up during the era when you were encouraged to ‘clean your plates’ (well, we didn’t have super sized portions!), and, that there were starving children around the world who needed food!

Serves:  4 (mini-size glass containers) 
What you need:
Amalfi Coast Chocolate Sauce~~Recipe (Note:  You’ll have leftovers of this.)
1 cup thawed (previously froze) raspberries—all smashed up! (divided)
1 tbl sugar
½ cup mascarpone
3 tbl powdered sugar
1 tbl vanilla
Finishing Salt (optional)
Fresh Mint (optional)

What you do:
Make the sauce using the recipe (you can substitute your favorite brewed coffee/beans).

Mix the sugar with the smashed raspberries. Reserve ¼ cup.  Pour the remaining into the small dessert glass containers. Put in the freezer for about an hour.

In a bowl, mix the mascarpone, powdered sugar (sift in to avoid lumps) and vanilla until smooth.  Add ¼ cup of the smashed raspberries and blend. Refrigerate.

Assemble the dessert glasses by adding the mascarpone into the cup on top of the frozen raspberry sauce.  Then add a good dollop of the Amalfi Coast Chocolate Sauce.  Return to freezer.

Remove from freezer about 20-30 minutes before serving.  If you want to add a cookie, have at it!

©Alice D’Antoni Phillips   www.allyskitchen.com