White Chocolate and Lime Panna Cotta with Mango and Passionfruit
A simple and delicious summer dessert
I think Panna Cotta was one of the very first desserts I mastered as a teenager. Which is not surpringing considering it is soooooo easy to make. I have no idea why is seems to have a reputation as a tricky dessert (maybe thanks to some famous panna cotta fails on Mastechef?) as it doesnt get much easier than panna cotta. It transtates to cooked cream and really thats all it is – so how hard can it really be?
I love it when people compliment me on my panna cotta and ask me for me recipe, howver the are always surprised when I tell them just how simple it is. And I umderstand their surprise. How can something so delicous be that simple? They almost seem dissapointed, like knowing it's literally cooked cream takes away some of the awe and mystery surrounding the fabled dessert.
Now I know I have just rticulated how simple panna cotta is and therefore logically it should be hard to stuff up right? Well it seems not. I myself have made my fair share of average panaa cottas. One's that don't set, are too firm or where the mixture splits. In my opinion, the problem actually lies in the recipe. Dare I say I think the majority of recieps add far to much gelatin resulting in an unapitising rubbery blob? I think the key to a good panna cotta is the gelatin ratio. Less is more! You want the panna cotta to be barely holding itself together. It should be jubbling around on the plate threatening to fall apart at any second!
I have no idea why so many recipes suggest such large qunatities of gelatin. Some recipe literally use double the amount I do! It's taken my some testing to come up with a basic panna cotta ratio of 1 cup of liquid to 1 scant teaspoon of gelatin powder or 1 ¼ sheets of gelatin. I say liquid not cream as I think thats another important element – panan cotta should be a mix of cream AND milk. If you just you pure cream it ends up too rich (for me anyway). I use a rough ratio of 1 part milk to 2 parts cream. And the cream should be pouring cream, not thick double cream.
The other important trick is too cool the panna cotta in an ice bath before setting. This stops the vanilla seeds from sinking to the bottom. As the panna cotta starts to set thanks to the cool ice bath, the mix thickens enough to suspend the seeds evenly. The ice bath also means the panna cotta should only take an hour or so to set so great if your are running out of time before your guest arrive!
White Chocolate and Lime Panna Cotta with Mango and Passionfruit
Serves: 4
Dietary guide: This recipe is gluten free. To male it FODMAP friednly you can either replace the mango with a FODMAP friendly fruit – I suggest raspberies or strawberries or keep the serving of the mango under 1/5 of a cup per person (the safe amount according to Monash University). I am currently working on a vegan version using cashews, coconut and Pana vegan white chocolate – watch this space!
Ingredients
200ml of full cream milk
450ml of pouring cream
200g of chocolate
1 ½ teaspoons of gelatin powder
¾ a teaspoon of vanilla seed paste
Zest of 1 lime (regular or Makruit lime)
1 Makruit lime leaf (double leaf)
1 large mango
3 passion fruits
20ml of suagr syrup (optional)
Method
Pour the milk into a small saucpan and sprinkle over the gelatin powder and let it sit for 5 minutes. Break up the chocolate pieces and place in a medium sized heat proof bowl (large enough to add the cream). Prepare 4 dariole moulds by lightly greasing the inside with a neutral flavoured oil. If your are using ramikins instead there is no need to grease them.
On a low heat, bring the milk and gelatin to a near boil strirring a few times. Turn off the heat, add the lime zest and life leaf and pour the warm milk over the chocoalte pieces. Let it suit for a few minutes and then mix well until all the chocloate has melted.
Pour the chocolate mix into the cream and whisk until thoughrly combined. Leave for about 15 minutes to give the lime a chance to infuse.
Meanwhile set up an ice bath - the ice bath process serves to purposes. It helps to suspend the vanilla seeds evenly throughout the panna cotta so the seeds don't all fall to the bottom, as well as speeding up the setting process. Make an ice bath by placing a medium sized bowl into a larger bowll. Fill the larger bowl with ice and a little water – the water should come at least half way up the smaller bowl but not too high, otherwise water may spill into the medium bowl. Strain the panna cotta mix through a sieve into the miedum bowl sitting in the ice bath. If you like a stonger lime flavour, use the back of a spoon to press down on the lime zest and leaf in the sieve to extract more lime flavour. Discard the lime leaf and zest.
Let the panna cotta sit in the ice bath, stirring often, for about 20 minutes or until you notice the mixture start to thicken. You can now divide the panna cotta mix among you preprapered moulds or ramekins. Place the moulds into a sealed cotnaied or glad wrap hem individually and place into the fridge to set. The should only take 1-2 hours to set. Not ethey should be quite wobbley – the sign of a good panna cotta!
Prepare the mango and passionfruit whilst you wait. Cut the 2 cheecks off the mango and using a wine glass or a large serving spoon scoop out the mango flesh – aim to get each cheeck out in one piece. Chop into cube. Halve the passionfruit and using a small spoon, scoop of the flesh and add it to the mango. Gently combine. Taste and add the sugar syrup if you think it needs it.
To serve remover the panna cotta from the fridge. If you have are serving them in raminkins simply top with the choped mango and passionfruit.
If you used dariole mould, gently use your fingers to pull the top away from the sides. The aim is to create a large enough air pocket down the side of the panna cotta - once the air pocket reached the bottom of the dariole mold you should be able to easily “plop” the panna cotta out onto a dessert plate or bowl. Divide the mango and pasionfruit mix among the plates and serve.
