BAKING PROJECT

I have been making Panna Cotta once in a while.. when I have extra whipping cream, and too lazy to make elaborate desserts.  It really is a very easy recipe to make.  But the torturing part is to wait for the panna cotta to set.  It takes a few hours to chill in the fridge.  So I suggest you make it ahead of time, maybe at lunch time, to enjoy it for dinner.

The ingredients :

First, take 1/3 cup of milk and mix with the gelatin.  Leave it for a few minutes, the gelatin will soak all the milk and become spongy.  In a pot,  add together the rest of the milk, cream, sugar and salt.  Heat on medium fire and stir once in a while till it nearly boils.  Off the fire and stir to ensure the sugar had dissolved.  Let it cool down a bit.  Now add the gelatin, and stir some more till there are no lumps.  Add the vanilla essence.

Strain the mixture, then pour into small glasses or ramekins.  You want to use ramekins with smooth sides.

Once set, after at least 2 hours, run a knife along the ramekins and unmold.  Spoon some syrup or caramel and decorate with some fruits.

Optional – you can change the proportion by adding more cream and reducing the milk, for a more creamy panna cotta.   You could also add some lemon zest into the milk to flavour it.  Change the essence/ extract to tailor it to your taste.  Use jelly molds instead of ramekins.

The Panna cotta is really rich, beautiful and its wobbly texture is simply enticing. Hope you’ll include this recipe in your repertoire.