Chocolate-Raspberry Cookies And Cream

3 cups frozen raspberries, thawed, divided

5 tablespoons sugar, divided

Few drops lemon juice

Pinch salt

⅔

cup heavy cream

⅓

cup creme fraiche (see Cook's note)

21 Famous Chocolate Wafers

6 mint sprigs

Put 1 cup of raspberries in a small bowl, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoon of the sugar, mash with a fork and set aside.

Put the remaining 2 cups of berries and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a food processor (or blender), and puree. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing down with a spatula. Add a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt to the raspberries in the bowl. Taste, adding sugar and lemon if needed. The sauce should be thin enough to drizzle. If too thick, add a few drops of water. Cover and refrigerate.

In a medium bowl, combine the cream, creme fraiche and the remaining tablespoon of sugar and whip until the mixture forms firm peaks. Gently fold in the mashed berries, leaving streaks.

Reserve six cookies for decoration, and crunch the rest into uneven pieces (not too small). Fold into the cream. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to the surface of the cream, and chill at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

To serve, scoop out into a small bowl. Drizzle a ribbon of raspberry sauce around the cream, tuck a cookie into the cream, and decorate with a mint sprig.

Serves six.

Cook's note: Creme fraiche is sold in many supermarkets. But you can omit and use 1 cup of heavy cream.

"Absolutely Chocolate" by the editors of Fine Cooking (2009 Taunton Press)