What's For Dessert: Blackberry Ricotta Mini Phyllo Cups

Let's continue our journey down blackberry lane, shall we? A few weeks ago our friends invited us over for dinner, and in addition to throwing together a quick salad (with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette and croutons, of course!), I also made a quick dessert to share. Since we were eating dinner al fresco on their pontoon boat (as one does when you live on a lake), I wanted to make something bite-size and easy to handle. Luckily, I had a box of pre-baked mini phyllo cups in the freezer. With a little sweetened ricotta cheese added into the cups, dessert was ready in less than 15 minutes -- 10 of those minutes were spent waiting for the phyllo cups to thaw!

Each phyllo cup was garnished with a set of wild blackberries. If you are using store-bought berries, you'll probably need fewer berries, as one or two will be enough to garnish; wild blackberries can be quite tiny in comparison!

As to the taste? Let's just say it's kind of ridiculous how delicious these little bites are. And by cheating (just a little bit!) with the use of pre-baked phyllo cups, you have an elegant dessert that's ready to be served in no time.

Blackberry Ricotta Mini Phyllo Cups (printer-friendly version)
makes 15 mini phyllo cups

mini phyllo cups, thawed (I used Athens brand)
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest from one lemon
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4-1/2 cup fresh blackberries

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta cheese, honey, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth.
2. Spoon the ricotta mixture into each phyllo cup.
3. Top each cup with fresh blackberries. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.