white chocolate panna cotta

after much talk about it i finally got round to having a stab at the white chocolate panna cotta; the production of which had to be abruptly halted a couple of months ago when i discovered the disappearance of my ramekins. since their reappearance i haven’t had chance for what i thought was going to be a delicate and time consuming operation.

i have shied away from gelatine, on the whole, since the consternation and distress it caused my sister during home economic lesson at school and the resultant consternation and distress it caused the family that evening as we fixed grins of pleasure and delight to our faces and ploughed through dishes of lumpy blancmange and half set jellies.

it turns out though that gelatine has come on leaps and bounds since the mid eighties and i could have whipped these little delights up anytime. the only difficulties i encountered was having the patience to leave them to set over night and the fact i was also marinating some pork in the fridge with quite a potent blend of Chinese spices. the smell of star anise somewhat pervaded the gentle understated flavours of vanilla and rosewater in the panna cotta. worth making sure there is nothing too strongly flavoured in the fridge before beginning this one.

the recipe for this came from video jug website. with a few additions and alterations. this website is a great resource for recipes as it takes you through the ingredients, equipment and method with visual step by step instructions. just worth double checking quantities etc though as there were a couple of inconsistencies in this recipe, i’ve ironed these out below.

as it is all made ahead of time this is perfect for entertaining– a moment for unmoulding and plating is all you need on the day. and there is something so utterly appealing about the sexy, vanilla flecked, barely set wobbliness of these little beauties.

ingredients
400ml double cream

200ml milk

40g caster sugar

a pinch of salt

120g white chocolate

3 sheets of gelatine (or 14g of gelatine powder)

1 vanilla pod

a little rose water

method
put the cream, milk, sugar, salt and the seeds from the vanilla pod into a saucepan and heat over a medium heat.

before the mixture comaes to the boil add the chocolate and turn off the heat. whisk thoroughly until the chocolate is melted and remove the pan from the heat.

soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water - leave for a couple of minutes. when the gelatine is soft remove it from the water and squeeze out any excess water. add the gelatine to the cream and chocolate mixture and whisk well until entirely dissolved.

the original recipe said to use 3 half sheets of gelatine but the image on the video looked like 3 full sheets of the type i had got so i used 3 full sheets and they were set perfectly but i wouldn't have wanted to use any less. depending on the make of gelatine you may want to watch the video to make your own judgement.

place the lightly oiled moulds on a tray that will fit inside your sweet smelling fridge and fill the moulds nearly to the top with the mixture.

chill in the fridge overnight.

as you come to serve the panna cotta run a knife gently round the inside edge of the mould and carefully dip the bottom of the mould into a bowl of warm water to help it release. turn onto the serving plate, spritz with a little rose water and decorate with fresh raspberries.

this would make a fabulously light dinner party dessert for a summer evening as it is all made ahead of time – a moment for unmoulding and plating is all you need on the day. darker alternatives would stand up to a richer, heavier winter menu. and there is something so utterly appealing about the sexy, vanilla flecked, barely set wobbliness of these little beauties.