Vanilla & Lavender Panna Cotta
Serves 6
Ingredients
3 tsp Gelatine
450ml Douglasdale Cream
80g Castor Sugar
2 x 2 cm Lavender Sprigs
240ml Douglasdale Milk
1 Vanilla Pod scraped or 1 / 2 tsp Vanilla Essence
ALMOND TUILES
2 Egg whites
1 / 2 tsp Vanilla Essence
110g Castor Sugar
55g Butter melted and cooled
55g Flour 30g Flaked Almonds
Method
Preparation time 20mins (plus refrigeration time)
Cooking time 15mins
1. Grease four dariol moulds (160ml metal moulds)
2. Sprinkle gelatine and sugar over combined Douglasdale Milk and Douglasdale Cream, lavender sprigs and vanilla pod in small saucepan. 3. Stir over low heat, without boiling, until gelatine and sugar dissolve. (gelatine will be destroyed if mixture boils)
3. If not using vanilla pod, add vanilla essence at this stage to mixture.
4. Strain into medium jug, cool to room temperature.
5. Gently pour cooled panna cotta into moulds, cover, refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
6. Turn panna cotta onto serving plates, garnish with lavender and berries.
ALMOND TUILES
1. Preheat oven to 190˚C, line a baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.
2. Place egg whites in a bowl and beat in sugar with a fork. Egg whites should be frothy. Sift in flour and add vanilla essence. Mix with fork. 3. Add melted butter to the mixture. Stir well.
3. Spread spoonfuls of mixture at least 13cm apart on prepared baking sheet in the shape you desire. (Long shapes, circles triangles etc.) Sprinkle with flaked almond.
4. Bake in oven for about 6 mins until pale biscuit coloured in the middle and a good brown at the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for a few secs.
5. Lift the biscuits off carefully with a palette knife. Lay them, while still warm and pliable, over the rolling pin to form them into a slightly curved shape. Leave on wire rack to cool completely. When cold, store in a airtight container.
Note
For the sugar spike decoration melt 1 cup of sugar in 2 cups of water. Cook without stirring until sugar turns brown take off heat immediately and put into a basin of cold water to stop it from cooking. Drizzle with a spoon to form lines on an oiled baking sheet. Once it has cooled and hardened, break into spikes. Be careful when cooking with hot sugar as it can burn.