Tuesday 4 October 2011

Strawberry Panna Cotta

Hi all,

Phew !!! Finally I managed to come back to my blog after a looooong gap of 4 months. The past few months had been very very hectic and busy with summer holidays and BBQ parties many friends and relatives visiting us and not to forget my Lil boy keeping me busy througout the day and as many bloggers out there must be aware of how hard it becomes to get back on to blogging if you stay away from it for a long period of time. I really really meant to get back to my blog every day but somehow kept procrastinating it day by day and week by week and I can't tell how much I missed blogging and all my blog friends here. But I am soo happy that I FINALLY managed to sit down and write a post today :)

pannacotta 1

Today I bring to you the famous Italian dessert Panna Cotta. Its a very creamy, yummy and a very easy dessert. I am sure most of you know about panna cotta. but if you have not heard of it before hre is a little intro about it. Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. So, if you have never tried this elegant and creamy dessert go ahead and try it NOW and believe me you will be very pleased by yourselves for whipping up this easy dessert which requires only few ingredients.

pannacotta 2

STRAWBERRY PANNA COTTA

Ingredients :
250 grams fresh strawberries-pureed
300 ml fresh cream,
1/2 cup sugar and
2-3 tbsp of agar agar flakes / powder.

Method:
Strain the pureed strawberries and in a saucepan mix together the cream, sugar and the pureed strawberries. Cook this on low heat for 8-10 minutes and remove off the heat. Let it cool slightly. Meanwhile in another saucepan, cook the agar-agar in 2-3 tbsp of water until it dissolves completely. Add this to the cooked cream stirring constantly and mix well. Pour into cups or ramekins and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.

This can be eaten straight from the bowl in which it has been set or it can be inverted onto a plate and served topped with strawberry coulis.

pannacotta 3

STRAWBERRY COULIS

Ingredients:
200 grams of fresh strawberries,
3-4 tbsp of sugar and
1/2 tsp of lemon juice.

Method:
Blend starwberries in a blender(without adding any water). Add to a pan with the sugar and the lemon juice, bring to a boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Strain and let it cool completely. Spoon it on top of the Panna Cotta just before serving or you can top this sauce on the panna Cotta and let it set in the refrigerator till ready to serve.

Notes:
Gelatine is 'THE' ingredients that sets this dessert but as I don't use gelatine, I substituted it with agar agar(a seaweed), which is a vegetarian alternative to gelatine.
You can subtitute the strawberries with any other fruit of your choice like raspberries, black berries or mangoes. Or you can just make plain vanilla pannacotta by adding few drops of vanilla essence to the cream while cooking.


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