gelatin Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Strawberry Panna Cotta with Balsamic Vinegar

February 28, 2017 By Becky 8 Comments

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This strawberry panna cotta with balsamic vinegar is an easy but gourmet spring dessert. With dairy-free and paleo-friendly options, more people can enjoy it!

Are you thrown off by the idea of vinegar in a dessert? Don’t go away yet–let me explain. First of all, you won’t actually taste the balsamic vinegar in this strawberry panna cotta unless you decide to drizzle extra on top to serve. Second, balsamic pairs really well with strawberries, enhancing their flavor and sweetness without asserting its own taste in any noticeable way.

Years ago when I was living in Houston, I threw one of my first dinner parties. I think everything I made that night was from the first cookbook I ever bought myself, Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics. A friend of a friend brought vanilla ice cream for dessert, along with a bottle of chocolate balsamic vinegar. He explained that he’d been to a vinegar tasting, and had learned about how balsamic can enhance desserts. Although skeptical, I drizzled a bit of the heady syrup onto my ice cream, and was totally blown away. The tang of the vinegar made all the other flavors in the dessert pop in the best possible way. I was sold.

Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

May 30, 2015 By Becky 24 Comments

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Last weekend I went to an amazing food photography and styling workshop in Plymouth, MA (more on that here), yesterday I took the comprehensive exams for my master’s program, and somewhere in there I turned 30.

I actually love birthdays (especially mine), and so far I am feeling good about being 30. Ben’s birthday is just a week and a half before mine, so we celebrated with a joint make-your-own ice cream sandwich party. It’s hard to imagine anything more fun than smooshing ice cream between cookies with your closest friends!

This ice cream was not present at the party because it hadn’t occurred to me yet–I was actually inspired to make this because of all the leftover buttermilk I had after making Ben’s birthday cake. (He always wants a gluten cake for his big day, and who am I to deny a birthday boy? It’s the only glutinous baking I do all year. I made him this chocolate cake and it was fabulous. The only change I made was using avocado oil instead of canola. The avocado oil is tasteless and worked great in the cake!)

For the party I made a classic vanilla ice cream in my ice cream maker and Nigella Lawson’s no-churn coffee ice cream. If you don’t have an ice cream maker (or even if you do!) you HAVE to try this no-churn business. I was blown away by the awesome, creamy texture and how easy it was to make. (It is, however, less healthy than what I normally make due to copious amounts of sweetened condensed milk. Worth it for a special occasion, though!)

Mocha Ricotta Pie with Strawberries

May 1, 2015 By Becky 14 Comments

This mocha ricotta pie is one of my absolute favorite desserts. It’s in my top three of all time, right up there with almond butter thumbprints and salted caramel brownies.

What makes it so fabulous is the trifecta of a lightly sweetened, crunchy shortbread crust, a rich and creamy ricotta filling with chocolate, coffee, and a hint of lemon (yes, lemon!), and a topping of juicy strawberries. It reminds me of the amazing Southern-style chocolate pie I always used to eat at the now-defunct Marimont Cafeteria in Austin, Texas, but with a mature Italian twist and bright berries to lighten things up.

Really good dark chocolate and high quality, full-fat ricotta are important for this pie. (Good coffee won’t hurt either, but I love my Café Bustelo.) I was so excited about having a tub of Narragansett Creamery ricotta in my fridge that I proceeded to completely forget I’d bought it to make zucchini lasagna, and dumped all of it into the filling for this pie.

Blood Orange Mascarpone Panna Cotta

March 4, 2015 By Becky 4 Comments

My winter survival strategy goes a little something like this: hibernate, obsessively check the sunrise and sunset calendar to track the slow lengthening of days, and eat all the blood oranges.

I buy blood oranges every time I see them at the store, but I love snacking on them so much that this is the first time all season that I’ve managed to use them for a blog recipe. I’m so used to having a supply of them around that when I turned to the fruit bowl the other day, ready to make this panna cotta, I was surprised to find there was only one orange left.

Luckily, that single fruit yielded just enough vibrant zest and sweet juice to lend the perfect amount of citrusy brightness to this panna cotta. If you’re not familiar with panna cotta, it’s like an eggless pudding. It couldn’t be easier to make. The name means “cooked cream”, but I’d hardly even call it cooking–the cream is warmed over low heat for less than five minutes, just long enough to dissolve the gelatin. For this recipe, the gelatin and cream are whisked with blood orange juice and mascarpone for an extra creamy, cheesecake-like finish. The panna cotta is sweetened with honey, which adds a floral note that plays nicely off the bright flavors of the orange juice and zest.

Patriotic Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis and Blueberries

July 2, 2013 By Becky 4 Comments

Have you ever had panna cotta? It’s a really simple Italian dessert and its name means “cooked cream”. It comes out kind of like a cross between a flan and a vanilla pudding (read: delicious).

The first panna cottas I made were delicious, but a total fail aesthetically–there wasn’t enough gelatin to unmold them in a shapely manner, and the fruit curds I layered in weren’t helping at all. But, this version is just as delicious and much nicer to look at.

Here I’ve paired panna cotta with a delicious raspberry coulis and some fresh blueberries for a special Fourth of July treat. Panna cotta is also delicious on its own, or with chocolate sauce. There are lots of other flavors of panna cotta that I’m dying to make (well, mainly mocha!) but that’s all for another day.

For now, impress your friends with this elegant and easy Independence Day dessert!

Ingredients for the panna cotta (makes 4-6 servings; adapted from David Lebovitz):

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup 2 % milk (or use all cream)
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
3 tablespoons cold water
1 packet plain gelatin
Butter for greasing ramekins

Ingredients for the raspberry coulis (makes about 1 cup):

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon kirsch or framboise liqueur
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
1 tablespoon cold water (optional)

For serving:

2 cups fresh blueberries

Place the cream, milk, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean, and drop the pod in, too. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the sugar is melted and the mixture is hot but not boiling. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the mixture infuse for half an hour.

Lightly grease individual ramekins with a little butter if you’re planning to unmold your panna cotta to serve (this is not necessary if you plan to serve it still in the cups). If your molds hold half a cup, you will need four of them. If they’re smaller, you might be able to fill 5 or 6.

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water. Let it sit for about five minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the vanilla pod and heat the cream back up until hot. Pour the mixture (through a sieve if desired) into the bowl with the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Divide the mixture among your molds and refrigerate, covered, for at least two hours before serving. Panna cotta will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

To unmold, dip the bottom of each ramekin in hot water for ten seconds, run a thin knife around the edge, then invert onto a plate.

To make the raspberry coulis, place the raspberries, sugar, salt, and water in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Strain the mixture, discarding the solids, and stir in the liqueur and vanilla. If you would like a thicker coulis, mix together 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water until smooth. Return the raspberry mixture to the saucepan, add the cornstarch paste, and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Cook and stir for one more minute, then remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature before serving with panna cotta. Store coulis in the refrigerator for up to one week or until ready to use.

To serve, invert the panna cotta onto a plate, surround with coulis, and sprinkle with fresh blueberries.