Plate Painting

Photo: flickr user woody1778a

Ingredients

2 12 oz bag frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed

cup sugar

cup raspberry jam

Chocolate Sauce

butter

2 1 oz pieces unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

1 cup light cream

cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

To add pizzazz to any dessert presentation, painting on a simple white plate, using fruit coulis, or using milk, dark or white chocolate. Mango, raspberry, and black currant provide a great palette to work from. Using different size pastry, paint brushes, stencils one can paint, drizzle, spin and apply colors to provide the perfect backdrop for almost any dessert.

Raspberry Coulis:Puree all ingredients in processor. Do not over puree the raspberries of they will lose their colour. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a nonreactive bowl, pressing gently on the fruit to extract as much liquid as possible.

Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Chocolate Sauce:In a saucepan, melt margarine and chocolate. Add sugar, cream, corn syrup and vanilla. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Raspberry Coulis