Panna Cotta

Step 1

--With A Vanilla Bean—

Mix the whipping cream plus ½ cup of milk with the icing sugar and honey in a saucepan or pot. Add the vanilla bean whole, bent in the middle if not too dry that it will not bend. Put over medium heat and stir with a whisk. As the liquid heats, whisk it to beat some air in. It will never beat to the consistency of whipped cream and you cannot overbeat it once it is warm. When the liquid is simmering steamy tendrils will be coming off the surface of it. It is done. A few bubbles are ok, but do not let it boil.

Set this aside and cover it with the pot lid or a tea towel and let the cream infuse and cool for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the other ½ cup of milk with the gelatine. Let it sit and chill while the cream infuses.

When the 15 minutes is up, remove the vanilla bean. You can wash the vanilla bean and reuse it or you can cut it down the centre lengthwise, scrape the seeds out with the back of a knife and add them to the cream mixture. Do not discard the pod. You can wash it, dry it, and cover it in a jar with ordinary white sugar. In a few weeks, you will have vanilla infused sugar which is wonderful in tea or to give as a gift.

Whisk in the gelatine mixture. Pass it through a sieve into buttered ramekins (if you do not intend to unmold the panna cotta, don’t bother buttering dishes and you can use small bowls or glasses to make a nice presentation). Chill for at least 3-4 hours or longer.

To unmold, dip the dishes into hot water and turn them upsidedown onto a plate.


--With Vanilla Extract—

Mix the cream, icing sugar and honey and heat it as above. Let it cool 10-15 minutes before adding the vanilla extract. Treat the milk and gelatine the same, and add it to the mixture after the vanilla. Strain and chill exactly the same.