Frozen raspberry soy cups

These raspberry cups will make a pretty end to any special meal.

* Makes 6

• 1 (1/4-oz.) envelope unflavored gelatin
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• 1/2 cup superfine sugar
• 2 cups raspberry soy yogurt
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 6 small chocolate cups
• 4 tbsp. soy cream, whipped
• 6 fresh raspberries

Dissolve the gelatin in a small pan with the lemon juice over a gentle heat, or microwave in 30-second bursts. Cool.

In a food processor, blend the raspberries with the sugar, soy yogurt, and vanilla to a smooth purée. Set aside 3 tablespoons. of the purée for the topping. Mix the dissolved gelatin into the remaining purée. Churn the mixture in an ice cream maker following the manufacturer’s directions, or spoon into a freezer container and freeze using the hand-mixing method until just spoonable. Spoon the raspberry mixture into individual chocolate cups and freeze for 1 to 2 hours.

Strain the reserved purée, then fold in the whipped cream. Whip again if necessary to stiffen slightly, then spoon into a small piping bag fitted with a fluted nozzle. Pipe swirls of this raspberry cream on top of the raspberry cups and return to the freezer until ready to serve. Serve these cups when iced but not frozen hard. If the cups do become frozen solid, allow about 20 minutes at room temperature before serving. Top each serving with a fresh raspberry.

Variations:

• Summer fruit soy cups

Follow the basic recipe, replacing the raspberries with fresh or frozen and defrosted summer fruits. Use a yogurt flavor that suits best.

• Cranberry soy cups

When preparing the basic recipe, replace the raspberries with fresh or frozen (and defrosted) cranberries, adding extra sugar to taste. Use peach or apricot yogurt instead of raspberry yogurt.

• Blueberry soy cups

Prepare the basic recipe, replacing the raspberries with blueberries and the raspberry yogurt with blueberry or cherry yogurt.

• Cherry soy cups

Replace the raspberries of basic recipe with pitted chopped cherries and the raspberry yogurt with cherry or blueberry yogurt.

• Creamy strawberry cups

If you don’t need a dairy-free dessert, prepare the basic recipe with strawberry dairy yogurt instead of the soy yogurt and dairy cream instead of the soy cream. Top with a small strawberry instead of a raspberry.