An elegant, simple Italian dessert. Creamy & incredibly satisfying! Having read about it several times, I always wondered of how beautiful & versatile something like this would be. Somehow never got down to making it till now when strawberries started showing up in the market. Sublime…& a sure winner. DH loved it & the kids found it AWESOME!!
The pudding before it was sent to chill!!
I scoured plenty of recipes on the net, & I finally settled for this one from Good Morning America by Chef Emeril Lagasse…I had to do one with strawberry coulis. Coulis is a French sauce which can be sweet or savoury, depending on what it is meant to accompany.There are as many sauces as there are versions of panna cotta on the web. A hot caramel sauce, a mocha sauce, a chocolate sauce, a mango sauce…the list is endless. And then the versions…a chocolate panna cotta, strawberry, mango, pistachio, a cookie base…how much more versatile can an eggless desert get. This is one desert I shall explore more & more!!
“Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. An Italian phrase which literally means “cooked cream”, it generally refers to a creamy, set dessert from the Northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is eaten all over Italy where it is served with wild berries, caramel or chocolate sauce. It is not generally known exactly how or when this dessert came to be, but some theories suggest that cream, for which mountainous Northern Italy is famous, was historically eaten plain or sweetened with fruit or hazelnuts.”
Recipe as modified from GMA, which I adapted it a bit here & there.
Ingredients:
For the custard:
Cream – 400ml
Whole Milk – 1 cup
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Zest of 1 orange
Gelatin – 1 1/2 tbsps
Water – 1/4 cup/warm
For the Strawberry Coulis:
Strawberries – 200gms
Sugar – 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Zest of 1 orange
Water – 2 tbsp
Method:
To make the panna cotta:
Combine the cream + milk + sugar + zest in a pan & simmer till it comes to a slow boil.
In the meantime, warm the 1/4 cup water & sprinkle the gelatin over it & leave to soften. (Since I increased the gelatin from the original recipe, it didn’t quite soften completely.Also became a dense glob! So I stirred in a little more warm water & then strained it.)
Take the milk/cream mixture off the heat. Whisk in the gelatin & pour into ramekins 0r bowls. I saw a recipe in which they even used a cupcake tray!
Leave to set/chill for 4 hours minimum to overnight.
To make the strawberry coulis:
Quarter the strawberries & put in pan with remaining ingredients. Simmer just till sugar dissolves.
Remove immediately, cool & blend. Strain & chill.
To serve:
To demould, place the bowls in warm water for 15 seconds & turn onto serving platter. Drizzle with strawberry coulis
OR, Serve in bowls with strawberry coulis on top. (I found this version simpler, though will get proper moulds & try it demoulded again.)
Garnish with sliced strawberries & serve.
Demoulded OR…
… Served in bowls
Zorra at Kochtopf has a LOVEly event on for Valentines…‘A Heart for your Valentine‘& invites us to treat our Valentine with something sweet or savory but always heart-shaped or heart-decorated. Here’s an ‘edible heart ‘ & a sweet one at that for her event…
“Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.” William Butler
CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CAKE…A combination almost too good to be true!This cake is now a firm favourite…a stunning dessert !
It was my sis-in-laws birthday a couple of days ago…& it was time to bake a cake again! I was really waiting for this cake baking opportunity because strawberries had begun appearing in the market. The idea had been germinating in my mind for long, & I was actually restless to give it a go! I planned to make 2 sponges; 1 chocolate & the other a strawberry flavoured one; sandwich them with whipped cream & strawberries; & top the cake with a ganache. That’s exactly what I did…& the cake was just too delicious for words. A droolicious combination!! Almost too good to be true!
A burst of flavour & colour!
Chocolate & Strawberries are quite the ultimate combination…
Strawberries are one of the first fruits of the season and have long been associated with rebirth and Spring. They are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. Strawberries are low calorie and a good source of vitamin C and fiber.The strawberry plant is a member of the Rose family.
About the cake…
Ingredients:
Chocolate Sponge:
Eggs -3
Sugar – 75gms /powdered
Cornflour – 1 tbsp
Cocoa – 2 tbsp
Flour – 75 gms minus 3 tbsps
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Pinch of salt
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Method :
Line & grease a 8″ spring form tin.
Sift the cornflour + flour + cocoa + baking powder + salt 3 times. Keep aside.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Beat the eggs & sugar well till it holds thick ribbons; about 10 minutes.
Beat in the vanilla essence.
Gently fold in the flour mix, a tbsp at a time, in figure 8 hand movements so that the beaten air doesn’t escape.
Turn into the prepared tin & bake for 25-30 minutes/ until done.
Remove from tin after 5 minutes, take off the lining & cool completely on rack.
Strawberry Sponge:
Eggs – 3
Sugar – 75 gms / powdered
Cornflour – 1 tbsp
Flour – 75gms minus 1 tbsp
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Pinch of salt
Strawberry essence – 1 tsp
Method : Similar to above.
Filling :
Cream – 400ml (35% fat)
Strawberry essence -1 tsp (optional)
Powdered sugar – 2-3 tbsp (increase if strawberries are tart)
Strawberries – 200gms/ chopped; reserve 3-4 for decoration
Method:
Whip cream, essence & sugar till it holds peaks.
Reserve 1-2 tbsp cream in a baggie for the spiral/ web on top.
Fold in the strawberries.
Don’t make this too much in advance, since strawberries macerate with sugar, & might make the cream runny.
Ganache:
Dark chocolate – 200gms
Cream – 200ml
Method :
Put the chocolate & cream in a pan. Keep on low heat, stirring constantly, till the chocolate melts. Remove & stir vigorously with a spoon.
If you want to pipe decorations on top, pass about 1/4 cup through a sieve & reserve separately. I’ve found that unless you sieve the ganache, its not easy to pipe it through an icing set. Its fine for spreading though.
Set aside to cool. It will thicken as it cools & get a spreadable consistency.
Finishing it off:
Cut each sponge into 2, so there are a total of 4 layers.
Sandwich them with the strawberry cream, using 1/3 each time.
Spread the ganache over the top & sides of cake. Use sprinkles on the sides if desired.
For the marbling, see pictures. Draw a spiral, with the cream in the baggie reserved from the filling, beginning from the centre outwards.
Then drag a wooden pick from the centre outwards, at a 60 degree angle, to equal points on the edge.
Do the same in the opposite direction (ie outwards to the centre) between the earlier lines. This will create a webbed pattern.
Pipe a ganache edging if you like. Then finish off with sliced strawberries & flaked chocolate etc. Chill till required.
Note: Serves about 15-18
Many hues & many views…
“Other things are just food. But chocolate’s chocolate.”
Patrick SkeneCatling
Time for the Serendipity Bake-off. Familia Bencomo is hosting a virtual ‘Baking Contest’. She says, ” With the help of The Soap Chix at Serendipity Soap, we are hosting a contest for the Most Pleasing Dessert – baker’s choice of what to prepare. Then, take at least one photo during its preparation process (so we know you didn’t go to Confetti Cakes for it!), photograph the finished treat & share the recipe and your experience with us on your blog.”
Here you are Familia Bencomo…would love to share this!
On the STRAWBERRY: “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.” Dr William Butler, 17th century English writer
STRAWBERRY SWISS ROLL
A delicious & light dessert which I made a while ago when I wasn’t quite camera crazy & ‘blogged on’. It was loved by everyone; am waiting to see strawberries back this season to make it again. The gateau has this lovely fresh flavour, and the vibrant look enhances the great taste!! Pretty simple and straightforward, this can be made in a day in advance. Keep it covered if you choose to make it the day before.
Ingredients: Eggs – 2
Powdered Sugar – 2/3 cup
Zest of ½ an orange Flour – 1/2 cup Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Whisk the eggs + sugar + vanilla essence + rind until thick; approximately 10 minutes till mousse-like.
Fold in the flour with a metal spoon very carefully; try not to knock out any air.
Pour batter into tin and bake for 15-20minutes/till done.
Turn the cake onto a kitchen towel, sprinkled with Castor sugar, remove the butter paper, roll up gently & leave to cool.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, put the cream + rind + sugar in a bowl and beat well until thick.
Whisk the yogurt until smooth & gently mix in. Divide the mixture into 2 bowls.
Chop ¾ of the strawberries and fold into 1 bowl for the filling. Slice the remainder for the top. Reserve a few leaves too if you like, or use fresh mint leaves.
Unroll the sponge and spread the strawberry filling, leaving 1/2 and inch at the edges. The filling will get pushed out as you roll the sponge. Roll the sponge gently, but firmly, and lay in a serving dish with the edge underneath. (to prevent it from opening/unrolling).
Spread the second bowl of cream over the top, decorate with sliced strawberries and mint leaves, and dust with icing sugar.
Chill well before serving.
Note: This can be made with other seasonal soft fruit like blackberries, blueberries/rasberries etc. Also, for those who like toasted almonds, you can include them in the topping.
