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Yoghurt and Vanilla Panna Cotta with Raspberry and Pomegranate Jelly

23/6/2016

My family absolutely love panna cotta, this is a dessert that does not last very long in my house. Here the combination of the panna cotta and the jelly works perfectly together.

You will find your guests will try the jelly and try and figure out what it is, as the pomegranate juice makes it different to normal jelly, it makes it better actually. Rarely will your guests get it right.

The first time I made this I used 3 leaves of gelatine and the pannacotta was hard as rock. Then I discovered gelatine leaves come in various sizes, I obviously used very large gelatine leaves and it was too much gelatine. So here I have added the grams measure also so that you can work out how much gelatine is needed.

I like to make this for parties as one, it is very easy to make and two, it can be made ahead of time. These will keep in the refrigerator for a few days.

This recipe can easily be halved.

I have used thickened cream instead of double cream and it works just as well.

I have used 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean also. Both work well.

You don't have to just make a raspberry and pomegranate version, you can change it and make other flavours such as mango or blackberries, whatever you fancy.

To get your panna cotta jellies to have the slanted effect there are various methods you can use, it really depends on the glasses you will be using. Below a tea towel is enough to keep the glasses from sliding. The glasses I use in the photo above, I place those glasses slanted in a large muffin tray. If you are using wine glasses that have a long stem, a loaf tin works really well. You may have a few ramekins around the house, you can use, or even egg cartons. You can even use Blu Tack to assist, if needed. Whatever, you use, set them on a large tray that will easily fit in your refrigerator.

Here I show a peach and mango version

So, if you are looking for an easy, make ahead dessert to serve at your next dinner party, give this a go, it looks and tastes amazing.

Recipe

Recipe adapted from Lorraine Pascale's cookbook 'How to be a better cook'

Makes 12

3 x 5g leaves of gelatine
200ml double cream
200ml whole milk
200g caster sugar
Seeds of 1 vanilla pod
600g Greek Yoghurt

Raspberry and Pomegranate Jelly:
2 x 85g packets Raspberry Jelly Crystals
400ml just boiled water
550ml Pomegranate Juice

Topping:
Seeds from 1 Pomegranate (optional)

To make the panna cotta: Place the gelatine leaves in bowl of cold water and leave to soak for 5 minutes.

Place the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla seeds into a small saucepan, place over a low heat. Heat gently, heat just enough for the sugar to dissolve, stirring regularly. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat. The gelatine should be soft by now, squeeze out any excess water from the gelatine leaves, then add them to the warm cream mixture. Stir until all of the gelatine has dissolved. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Place the yoghurt in a large jug.

Prepare your glasses (see notes above on how to best slant your glasses).

Once the cream mixture has cooled, pour it over the yoghurt and gently whisk it, until combined.

Carefully, on the slant, pour the cream mixture into your prepared glasses, dividing it evenly. Carefully place the tray of glasses in the refrigerator and leave to set for 3-4 hours until firm.

Meanwhile, make the jelly as soon as the panna cottas go into the refrigerator, as they need time to cool before adding them to the panna cottas.

To make the jelly: Place the raspberry jelly crystals in a large jug. Pour in the boiling water, stir, until all of the jelly has dissolved. Stir in the pomegranate juice, then leave to cool, to room temperature. Do not add hot or warm jelly to the panna cottas, it will start to melt them.

Remove the set panna cottas from the refrigerator and stand the glasses upright onto a tray. Pour the cool jelly over each one, dividing it evenly. Return to the refrigerator for a further 3-4 hours or until the jelly is set firm.

When ready to serve, top each panna cotta with pomegranate seeds, if using.

Enjoy!

Find the recipe at http://www.whatscookingella.com/yoghurt-and-vanilla-panna-cotta-with-raspberry-and-pomegranate-jelly.html
Pin it: https://au.pinterest.com/pin/399413060685295138/

I'd love to know what you think about this recipe, and please let me know if you have made it, I do like to get feedback. Name and comment only required.

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Citrus Meringue Trifle

20/6/2016

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I have three kids and each year for their birthdays I have a houseful of family that come over to celebrate their birthday. We are a family where no invitation is necessary, we just show up. I quite like it, as it is a way where we get to see each other regularly.

Well one year I made the birthday cake and a variety of other desserts, and as my guests where eating, one uncle, not to name names Ujo Mladen, said "they're all nice, but we've had all of these before". Well ever since then, although I do repeat some desserts I have to introduce at least one new dessert, just for him.

So this Citrus Meringue Trifle was the new dessert for this birthday. Well it impressed, my family seem to love citrus base desserts, I know I do, and this is a good one. My uncle loved it, he actually took the left over trifle home so I know I did good that day (now I have to start thinking what I will make for my daughters upcoming birthday).

Back to the trifle, I also made this for another gathering recently and it was loved just as much, it really is the perfect balance between tart and sweet. And the citrus flavour leaves you with a really nice taste in your mouth.

Lemon Curd is really easy to make and the homemade curd is always better than the store bought one, so please don't try and cut corners, make the curd it is worth it. Also the curd can be made up to 2 days before you are going to make the trifle, so make it ahead of time so you don't have to do everything in one day. Just place in a sterilized jar and keep it in the refrigerator, until needed.

Sponge finger biscuits come in various thicknesses. The one pictured is quite a thick biscuit so I made 2 layers for this trifle. Previously I found a brand that has a very thin sponge finger biscuit, so for that trifle I made 3 layers as you want the filling and biscuit layers to be proportional. This recipe is for the two layered version, so adjust things if you are making it in 3 layers.

The icing sugar in the filling I have made 80-100g as the amount of sugar will depend on the sweetness of the orange juice. If the oranges are really sour, you will need to add more icing sugar, if they are sweet, just add the 80g. Taste the filling and adjust it to your liking. Just remember not to over sweeten the filling as the meringue on top will add a bit more sweetness to the trifle.

The meringue can be made 3-4 hours in advance, but in all honesty it is so easy to make, you could make it just before serving and for extra theatrics blow torch it in front of your guests, that always impresses people, and it also sends a lovely aroma around the house. You could also, if really pushed for time, make the meringue the day before as it does hold its shape well, just don't cover it when refrigerating.

I have given the size of the dish I make this in, but in all honesty use whatever you have at home, as long as at is of a similar size, it will be okay. I used a 24cm square dish that is 5cm high. But you can easily use a rectangle shaped dish of similar size.

This really does need to be made a day in advance to allow for the flavours to develop and for the biscuits to soften. Do not make it if you can't do it earlier as you will end up with a dry trifle if you rush it, learnt that the hard way. I did try serving it the day I made it, and it was not great.

The trifle can be served with a spoon, as a trifle, where you just scoop of dollops of trifle, or it slices up really well, as it holds it shape, if sliced like a cake, as pictured.

A citrus flavoured liqueur, such as Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Limoncello can be added to this recipe. Just omit 1/3 cup (80ml) of the orange juice from the 'for the biscuits' step and add in the liqueur instead. It doesn't need it, but if you like a boozy trifle, do it.

I normally always state where I get my recipes from, but this recipe I have had as a clipping from a magazine for years now and I just don't know where I got it from.

So this ones for my uncle who keeps me on my toes each year by making me better myself in the dessert department.

Recipe

Lemon Curd:
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
1/3 cup (80g) chilled unsalted butter, cubed
Zest and juice of 2 lemons

For the biscuits:
1 cup (250ml) orange juice
3/4 cup (180ml) lemon curd
2 x 250g packets sponge finger biscuits

Filling:
1/2 cup (125ml) orange juice
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
3 x 250g packets cream cheese
80g-100g icing sugar mixture
300ml thickened cream, whipped

Meringue:
4 egg whites
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar

Lemon Curd: Place the whole eggs, the yolks and the sugar in a medium saucepan, whisk until smooth. Turn on the heat to low, add the butter, lemon zest and juice, whisk continuously until it has thickened. Pour into a sterilized jar and refrigerate until needed. You can, if you like, strain the lemon curd through a fine sieve into the jar, to remove any of the zest, but I don't bother.

Filling: Place the cream in a small bowl of an electric mixer, beat until thick but not stiff. Set aside.

Using the same beaters, no need to wash them, beat the cream cheese and icing sugar in a large bowl of an electric mixer, until smooth. Add the orange and lemon juice, beat until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream.

For the biscuits: Combine the 1 cup of orange juice and 3/4 cup of the lemon curd in a small saucepan, stir over a low heat until smooth, allow to cool. Divide the orange mixture evenly between 2 bowls, this ensure both biscuit layers get the same amount of the orange mixture. Dip half the biscuits into one of the orange mixture bowls. Place the biscuits in a single layer over the base of a deep heatproof dish about 24cm x 24cm x 5cm in size. If you have any leftover orange mixture in the first bowl, use a pastry brush and brush it onto the biscuits.

Spread half of the filling over the biscuit layer.

Dip the remaining biscuits into the second bowl of the orange mixture, place these in a single layer over the filling. Brush any leftover orange mixture onto the biscuits.

Top the biscuits with the remaining filling. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Meringue: Beat the egg whites in a small bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. This takes about a minute. Now gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, allow 30 seconds to a minute between sugar additions, beat until the sugar has dissolved and you have a thick glossy meringue.

Top the trifle with the meringue, fluff it up in swirls. Now using a blow torch, caramelise the meringue all over. You could bake or grill in a moderate oven for 3-5 minutes until browned if you don't have a blow torch, but do buy one, if you can, they are really handy in the kitchen. If not serving immediately, refrigerate uncovered, until needed.

To serve, either serve it up as a trifle or slice up like a cake.

Enjoy!

Find the recipe at http://www.whatscookingella.com/citrus-meringue-trifle.html
Pin it: https://au.pinterest.com/pin/399413060685266111/

I'd love to know what you think about this recipe, and please let me know if you have made it, I do like to get feedback. Name and comment only required.

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Peach Melba Buttermilk Puddings

19/6/2016

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After 3 years of blogging I decided to take some time off, the last new recipe I actually posted was over 2 months ago. Now that is not a long time in the real world, just long in the blogging world. I don't think people understand the time it takes to actually do what I do. Finding the recipe, making it, modifying it, if needed, making it again, then actually posting it. I got tired of blogging, but mostly I was tired of the same old question I get from people, who don't mean to offend me, is so how is your blog going, does it make any money.

This blog to me was never about the money. This is my food journal, this is something that I do for myself, somewhere where I can find my own recipes when I need them. And in a few years, somewhere where my kids can go to when they want to cook something they ate that mama cooked. My daughter already uses the website a lot, she has started to love cooking also, and I love when I see her in the kitchen following one of my recipes. I just love it.

I also do this for you. For those of you out there who are looking for new recipes to feed yourself, your family and your friends. I know I love when I come across a website that I trust, so I am hoping I am like that for some of you.

So after having some time off, I'm back, and I'm excited to share my new recipes (I have been cooking, I just haven't been sharing).

So my first recipe since my break is these Peach Melba Buttermilk Puddings. I love peaches, I love pannacotta, I love raspberries, when you put all three together, it is just amazing.

This is a great make ahead of time recipe, you can make it two days before needed, just add the raspberries on the day of serving, so they look beautiful on top.

Serve it up in any glasses you have, the ones pictured above I bought from IKEA, they are small wine glasses that I find the perfect size for pannacottas, custards, mousses and jellies. The amount of puddings you make from the recipe will be determined by the size of your serving glass. For instance I got 7 servings below and 11 using the glasses pictured above.

Now the first time I made these I used fresh peaches, as per recipe, it worked a treat. But I thought to myself why not try it with tinned peaches, they are cheaper, easily accessible and should work also. Well I actually preferred the tinned peaches. The fresh peaches really do need to be ripe, as you will not get much juice from them if they are not, and in all honesty I prefer to eat a fresh peach whole than use it here. But if you have 4 large yellow ripe peaches that you need to use up, use them, it tastes amazing. Also, if using fresh peaches they need to be peeled before blitzing them.

Now I will say this is one of the easiest desserts you will ever make, and I mean really easy. Very little can go wrong with this dessert. Actually the only thing I found was that if you look at the photo below, you will see a clear jelly at the base of the panna cotta, this happens if you don't allow the cooked cream to cool enough before refrigerating. Before pouring the cooked cream into your glasses, give the cream a stir, then, after I have placed the puddings in the glasses and in the refrigerator, I use the handle of a teaspoon and give the puddings a gentle stir after they have been in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, this will stop this from happening. But if it does happen, don't stress at all, as it still sets, tastes great and makes no real difference to your dessert, it truly is a minor issue.

The panna cotta itself is so creamy and delicious, it really is good, I love the addition of the buttermilk. With the peach part I push all of the peach mixture through a fine sieve, so it is a little pulpy in texture, but we like that, if you want it really smooth, just press down lightly when extracting the juice and discard the solids. Also I add some of the syrup from the tinned peaches about 3-4 tablespoons, as it adds a little sweetness, and makes the peaches thinner. I also have used peaches in syrup and peaches in mango juice, both worked perfectly.

So here is a dessert that is truly simple to make, that will impress your family and friends, as it not only looks beautiful, it tastes great to.

Recipe

Recipe adapted from Delicious, Simply the Best by Valli Little

Makes 6

5x 5g titanium strength gelatine leaves
600ml thickened cream
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
400ml buttermilk
1 x 825g tin peaches in natural syrup
2 x 125g punnets fresh raspberries

Soak 3 of the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes, to soften.

Place the cream, sugar, vanilla and buttermilk in a small saucepan over a low-medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Don't allow this mixture to get too hot, it just needs to be warm. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine leaves, then add the gelatine to the cream mixture, stirring until the gelatine has dissolved.

You can strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug, it cools quicker, and makes sure there is no undissolved gelatine, but you don't have to, I generally don't. Allow to cool slightly, for approximately 15 minutes. Once cooled pour the cream mixture evenly into your serving glasses.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then give it a gentle stir with the handle of a teaspoon, this helps to stop the gelatine separating. Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set.

Drain the peaches through a sieve into a bowl, you need to reserve 3-4 tablespoons of the liquid. Place the peach flesh into a blender and puree until smooth. Pass the peach puree through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, pressing down to extract the juice. Discard the solids if you want a smooth jelly or push through the solids if you like a pulpy finish. Add the reserved tin liquid, stir, then set aside, until needed.

Soak the remaining 2 gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes to soften. Place the peach puree into a small saucepan over a low-medium heat to warm up. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine, then add the gelatine to the puree. Remove from heat and stir until the gelatine has dissolved. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes.

Once cooled, carefully pour over the set buttermilk puddings, and refrigerate for a further 2 hours or until set.

Garnish the puddings with the raspberries and serve.

Enjoy!

Find the recipe at http://www.whatscookingella.com/peach-melba-buttermilk-puddings.html
Pin it: https://au.pinterest.com/pin/399413060685251969/

I'd love to know what you think about this recipe, and please let me know if you have made it, I do like to get feedback. Name and comment only required.

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Lemon Macaroons

8/6/2016

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I am someone that rarely ever buys a cake from a cake shop. Why, I just hate buying something and then being disappointed with what I buy. Store bought cakes I find are generally too sweet for me. With the macaroon I was not disappointed with the flavour, but with the price, they are quite expensive.

So after trying a macaroon (so that I knew what they should taste like) I enjoyed them enough to want to make them. It took me three recipes before I was happy with the end result. Others I tried would crumble too easily, so would be very messy to eat.

These ones were perfect, very simple to make, easy to eat.

These macaroons seriously are easy to make, the hardest part is the piping to get them similar in size, but with practice that gets easier and easier. I like to make small ones, so I use a 1.5cm plain tube and make 3cm rounds, but feel free to make larger ones. You can also use a pencil to draw circles on the baking paper, to help with piping, just but the pencil side down on the baking tray so you don't get pencil on your macaroon.

I haven't mastered getting them flat like the shops do, mine have a small peak on them, but no one that has tried them cares about that.

Also when baking I bake one tray at a time in the centre of the oven, the macaroons that sit for more than 30 minutes before baking are just fine, they turn out perfect.

The actual recipe is with a Limoncello filling, while other recipes I have tried using lemon curd. So I will give you either option as your filling.

Recipe

Recipe adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'Macaroons & Biscuits'

Makes 16-20

3 egg whites
55g caster sugar
Yellow food colouring
200g icing sugar
120g ground almonds
Zest of 2 lemons
1 tablespoon icing sugar, extra

Limoncello Filling:
60ml pouring cream
150g white chocolate, chopped coarsely
4 teaspoons Limoncello liqueur

or

Lemon Curd Filling-you can make this 2-3 days before needed
www.whatscookingella.com/lemon-curd.html

If you are going to fill the macaroons with a lemon curd filling you need to make it at least the day before, but you can make it a few days earlier. Refrigerate, until needed.

Grease two oven trays, line with baking paper.

Beat egg whites in a small bowl of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the caster sugar and a few drops of colouring, beat until the sugar dissolves. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Fold in sifted icing sugar, ground almonds and lemon rind, in two batches.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 2cm plain tube. Pipe 4cm rounds about 2cm apart onto the prepared trays. Pick up the trays and drop them flat on the table (carefully) to allow the macaroons to spread slightly. I do this 2-3 times.

Dust macaroons with extra sifted icing sugar. Stand 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 150C. Bake macaroons about 20 minutes. Cool on trays. I use a thin palette knife to ease them off the baking paper.

For the Limoncello Filling: Bring the cream to the boil in a small saucepan, remove from heat; add chocolate, stir until smooth. Stir in liqueur, stand at room temperature until spreadable. (If you want to quicken the process, you can refrigerate the filling, but watch it, as it can go too hard and become to hard to spread).

Sandwich macaroons with either the lemon curd or the Limoncello filling.

Enjoy!

Find the recipe at http://www.whatscookingella.com/lemon-macaroons.html
Pin it: https://au.pinterest.com/pin/399413060676907536/

I'd love to know what you think about this recipe, and please let me know if you have made it, I do like to get feedback. Name and comment only required.

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Yoghurt and Vanilla Panna Cotta with Raspberry and Pomegranate Jelly

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Citrus Meringue Trifle

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Peach Melba Buttermilk Puddings

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Lemon Macaroons

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