Lekker!

Vanilla Panna Cotta With Balsamic Berries

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

This is such an elegant and grown-up dessert. I love it - each and every whopping 878 calories per serving of it. The panna cotta on its own is deliciously rich and creamy. Eaten with the balsamic berries, however, sends you to heaven and then some.

I've made this a few times and each time it was well-recieved by all. This is prepared only for parties or dinners because of the time involved. Also, you don't seriously expect me to finish six to eight servings all my myself, do you? My hips and tummy doth protest.

There are as many variations of panna cotta as there are shoe stores in Italy but this one is a favourite. The recipe can be found in GoodFood magazine, May 2007 issue and it comes from celeb chef James Martin. It is moderately easy - helps if you have some kind of kitchen experience though - and can be halved, doubled, tripled or quadrupled. I've personally tripled the recipe for Parents-in-Law's birthday party this summer and it turned out super. Just keep the proportions right and you'll be fine.

Vanilla Panna Cotta With Balsamic Berries

For The Panna Cotta

You Need:

4 leaves gelatine
125ml milk
grated zest 2 oranges
2 vanilla pods, split
140g caster sugar
1.2l double cream
75ml vodka

For the Balsamic Berries

You need:

200g strawberries, hulled
140g raspberries
100g blueberries
3tbsp good-quality aged balsamic vinegar
25g caster sugar

You do:

Soak the gelatine in the milk and leave to one side. Place the orange zest, vanilla pods and caster sugar in a pan. Add 800ml of the cream and bring to the boil. Simmer until the mixture is reduced by a third.

Meanwhile, remove the gelatine from the milk and place the milk in a pan to warm gently. When warm, return the soaked gelatine and stir to dissolve. Add to the warm cream, then pass through a sieve and leave to cool.

Lightly whip the remaining cream and fold into the setting mixture, together with the vodka. Pour the mixture into 6-8 dariole moulds or ramekins and place in the fridge to set.

While the panna cotta is setting, make the balsamic berries. Place all of the berries, vinegar and sugar into a large bowl and toss together. Allow to marinate for 2-3 hours, tossing occasionally.

Remove the panna cotta from the fridge and loosen the edges with a knife. Alternatively, dip the moulds very briefly in hot water to loosen. Tip the panna cotta into the middle of the plates and spoon the balsamic berries around the edge.

Note:

On this occasion, I replaced the blueberries with blackberries. You don't have to follow the list of berries strictly. Just pick whatever rocks your boat.

I've omitted step 5 because I set the panna cotta in wine glasses instead of ramekins. Firstly, I don't have the gumption nor time of loosening 16 panna cottas onto plates. Secondly, served in a glass is visually more pleasing and easier to wash up. Okay, load up since the dishwasher does the actual cleaning. You know what I mean.

Any leftover balsamic berries is lekker with pancakes and vanilla ice-cream. I promise.

Labels: 100% sugar, she cooks

The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 9:11 am

1 calories

Comments:

Joyce, I love this dessert! It looks so inviting. I m gonna fatten my hubby and kids..hahaha.. Brandon, my elder son loves any dessert that ve berries. He will definitely love this. Hopefully I can give it a try soon. Before that, I need to bother you with few questions :)

Double cream - can i use whipped cream or Sour cream?

What is balsamic vinegar?

# posted by

Cranberry : October 04, 2007 8:52 pm