This honey, rosewater panna cotta recipe is one of the most delicious I’ve ever tasted. It comes from Ilse van der Merwe and her stunning new cookbook called Cape Mediterranean. It has a delectable silky texture with a very slight cinnamon note and a strong hit of exotic rosewater. Reminiscent of Turkish delight, this is the perfect dessert to make in advance and serve in summer. It is definitely one that will impress.
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I tasted this along with about 14 other dishes from the book at Ilse’s launch a little while ago. Everything was totally delicious and made me want to dive right into the kitchen immediately. She has taken a collection of her favourite recipes that are strongly Mediterranean-inspired but use local ingredients and packed them between the pages of this wonderful book.
Since the climate in the Western Cape is a Mediterranean one, the whole premise of the book makes total sense. This is definitely the book you will want to whip out when you invite friends over to enjoy a relaxed and convivial meal on a lazy weekend day.
The photography in this book is absolutely brilliant and shot by the ultra-talented food photographer Tasha Seccombe. It can proudly take up residence on your coffee table as much as it can in your kitchen.
The opening chapter is on loaves, flatbreads, and pizza, so you could say Ilse had me at bread. It then moves into dips, spreads, and pates and we all know how I feel about drizzling and dipping. The third chapter focuses on tapas, terrines, and pates, and having tried a number of these dishes, it’s a goodie. I have earmarked the country-style pork & port terrine with pistachios for this coming Christmas.
Then follows soups, chowders, and stews which will happily see you through a wet rainy Cape winter although the Cape seafood Bouillabaisse will be one you want to eat in summer too. Chapter 5 is all about salads, vegetables, and legumes and I would 100% be making every single one of these. Chapter 6 is probably my favourite as it’s carb heaven central with pasta, potato, and rice dishes. Think butternut gnocchi with Gorgonzola cream sauce and Greek-style youvetsi with Karoo lamb, lemon, and origanum. This recipe is the one I want to make the most of in the book. Ilse then has a chapter on grills, roasts, and braises followed by her final delicious chapter on desserts.
I honestly want to cook and eat this entire book.
I have known Ilse for a long time as we have both been blogging for what seems like eons and I know she is an exceptionally talented cook with wide experience as a professional in this field. Her debut cookbook is a delight and a triumph as well as a celebration of local and sustainable ingredients.
Honey & rose water panna cotta
Ilse says if you don’t like rosewater you can just as easily leave it out. She garnished it with a scattering of chopped-up Crunchie bars and fresh raspberries and these worked so unbelievably well together along with a light drizzle of honey over the top of the panna cotta. You could just use any berries if you prefer.
A delicious and easy panna cotta recipe with rosewater and cinnamon
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Prep Time:15 minutesmins
Ingredients
500mlcream
10ml2 tsp powdered gelatin
60ml1/4 cup sugar
10ml2 teaspoons rose water
20ml4 tsp honey, plus more for drizzling
1cinnamon stick
Fresh raspberriesany berry & chopped crunchie to serve (optional)
Instructions
Lightly spray 4 small ramekins or serving glasses with cooking spray and set aside.
Pour 45ml (3 tablespoons) of the cream into a cup with the powdered gelatin. Leave the mixture for 10 minutes to sponge (bloom).
In the meantime heat the rest of the cream, sugar honey, cinnamon stick, and rosewater into a small pot on the stove. Stir until the sugar has melted (do not boil).
Add the sponged gelatin mixture and stir gently to dissolve. Remove from the heat, remove the cinnamon stick and pour the liquid into a jug. Measure this out between the 4 ramekins or glasses. Refrigerate until set (about anhour).
Serve with a light drizzle of honey over the surface and garnish with the chopped crunchie chocolate and fresh raspberries.
Notes
These desserts can be made in advance, covered and stored in the fridge. Top with the honey, raspberries and crunchies just before serving.
If your panna cotta refuses to set – try heating it up again (never boil it...) and adding a little bit of extra gelatin. Some fruits such as pineapple and kiwi contain enzymes that break down the protein in gelatin so it never sets. This problem can be solved by heating the fruit in question first.
In addition to blooming, straining the final mixture just before you pour it into molds to set will give your panna cotta the smoothest texture. Gelatin-based desserts are best eaten soon after they're cooked, and panna cotta will begin to develop a rubbery texture if it ages beyond four days.
To make the panna cotta, soak the gelatine leaves in a small bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes or until soft. 3. Pour the single and double cream into a saucepan, add the sugar and gently bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, until just scalding (about to boil). Immediately remove from the heat.
This creamy custard-like dessert is made by simmering together cream, milk, sugar, and gelatin. After being mixed with sour cream and flavored with vanilla, the mixture is poured into molds and chilled until set. It has an incredibly smooth, melt-in-your-mouth texture like nothing else you've tasted.
Cover each panna cotta with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until it's set; the time will vary depending on the size and shape of your containers, but expect four to six hours.
Might try to leave it out of the fridge for one hour to bring it up to room temperature. This will soften the panna cotta. If it's still to hard it would be possible to reheat it and add more cream + sugar and chill it again. Gelatine can be remelted.
If you find that your panna cotta separates into two layers, one that's creamy and one that's more gelatin-like — there can be two reasons. First, either your gelatin didn't bloom and dissolve properly when stirred into the cream. Second, the cream mixture boiled after the gelatin was added.
Once boiling, remove from heat and add the soaked gelatine. ...
Pass the mixture through a sieve and leave to cool - if you are able to cool over a bowl of crushed ice, this will help to keep the vanilla seeds from sinking to the bottom.
Blancmange (/bləˈmɒnʒ/, from French: blanc-manger [blɑ̃mɑ̃ʒe]) is a sweet dessert popular throughout Europe commonly made with milk or cream and sugar, thickened with rice flour, gelatin, corn starch, or Irish moss (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured with almonds.
Panna cotta means “cooked cream” in Italy, and that's essentially what the base is: heated heavy cream (often with a little half-and-half or whole milk) set with powdered gelatin and flavored with vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
The ultimate panna cotta should have the perfect wobble — this is an indication of the texture, which should be silky, creamy, melt in the mouth but not too bouncy or rubbery. I'd rather a panna cotta that is more wobbly than too set, personally.
Did you know that…? Panna cotta is probably the only dessert which can be made without eggs, flour, sugar and baking. Although panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before 1960, it is often regarded as a traditional Italian dessert of the Piedmont region.
Underhydrated gelatin will be stubbornly gritty, never dissolving, and negatively impact the final set. As with all gelatin desserts, this will become firmer the longer it sits, so eat your panna cotta within 24 hours for the most delicate, elegant texture.
One potential problem is the gelatin didn't melt all the way or you boiled the gelatin mixture. When you boil gelatin, it loses its thickening power and won't set up as desired. The other issue is not giving the panna cotta enough time to set up.
Gelatin may not bloom properly if it is not scattered or sprinkled on top of the liquid or if the liquid is not cold enough. If the gelatin is not blooming correctly, it will likely have clumps.
Separation: If your panna cotta is separating into distinct layers, it could be due to not properly combining the ingredients or adding ingredients that are too cold. Make sure to thoroughly mix the ingredients and allow them to come to room temperature before combining.
Mix in a slurry of cornstarch: One common method is to create a slurry by mixing a small amount of cornstarch with water. Gradually whisk the slurry into the pudding while it's heating. This can help thicken the pudding [1].
Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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