White Chocolate & Rose Panna Cotta with Raspberry Cardamom Coulis
white choc & rose panna cotta with raspberry cardamom coulis
It took an absolute stranger (now friend made on Twitter) who invited us for lunch, to get me to make a panna cotta. Carl and his lovely wife Bron whipped up traditional vanilla pana cotta with a red berry sauce and shared the recipe with us.
The ingredients needed are few and it looked simple enough. I tweaked it to include a Moroccan twist with rose water and they came out…perfectly. I was hooked.
I made the pana cotta again for a dinner for eight, glammed up with white chocolate and rose water and a thick raspberry sauce with whole berries, mushed slightly with a fork and laced with cardamom, it’s musky aroma evoking promises of Arabian nights and Zanzibarri coffee, which is a delight unto it’s own.
This particular recipe is adapted from one by UK Chef John Burton Race and you can read it here. My sauce has a cheat’s shortcut, which takes an already simple recipe and makes it even easier.
Ingredients
Serves 4
500 ml double cream (use single if you prefer)
150 ml rose water
100 g white chocolate, broken up
10 ml white sugar (optional, as the chocolate is quite sweet)
4 gelatine leaves, soaked in tap water to cover for 5 minutes and squeezed dry.
Method
For the panna cotta
Heat the cream and rose water in a pan on the stove over medium heat, until almost simmering. The aroma is just beautiful.
Reduce the heat and add the white chocolate and sugar and stir well to melt. A low heat is advisable.
Remove pot from heat and add squeezed out gelatine leaves. I used a small whisk to, well whisk the panna cotta mixture, until the gelatin leaves melt.
Set aside to cool and pour into ramekins ( 4 medium servings or 6 smallish ones).
Chill in the fridge for 4-5 hours or overnight, which is best I find.
For sauce
125 g raspberries
4 T raspberry & pommegranate jelly (you could use jam)
6-8 cardamoms, crushed, the green husks removed or 1 t powdered elachi
In a small pot, melt the raspberry jelly/jam on low-medium heat.
Add the raspberries and cook for 3-4 minutes, squishing some berries with a fork and leaving the others whole.
Lower heat if the jam starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add crushed cardamom, mix well and remove from heat.
When cool, serve over the panna cotta. If the berry sauce gets too thick, heat slightly and allow to cool a tad before serving.
You may dip the base of the ramekin in hot water briefly and a knife into hot water (wiped dry) and run along the edges of the ramekin, dislodge the panna cotta and serve on a plate or just in the ramekins themselves.
That looks super yummy!
Absolutely LOVED this! Had a glass of Kleine Zalze Gamay Noir rose the day after our dinner and the delicate cardamom flavours of that wine just took me right back to your yummy dessert from the night before. There’s something soft and mysterious about rose water and cardamom flavours together that linger in my head days and weeks after.
I’ve never had(or wanted) panna cotta, but this is the first time a recipe has made me want some!
Made something similar a while ago – like the use of berries to complement the pana cotta.
OOOh, I’m dying to try this one out! Great combination of ingredients.
Beautiful! Rose water and raspberries sound like a combination that could fit very well in my mouth.
It looks really delicious!! Thanks for the recipe!
Hello guys!
Thanks for all the comments. So easy, why did I not try it before? I know panna cotta can be made with single cream and even yoghurt for a less indulgent, week day treat. If you try this recipe or any other variety, please let me know.
Is the 150ml of rose water correct it seems an awful lot for the amount of cream or maybe I have a very strong rose water!!
Hi Anne. I use the generic make, from my childhood days. Perhaps I was a little heavy handed with it 😉 If yours is stronger, subs milk to make up difference. Or add an amount you think sufficient, of your rose water to the cream. Hope you enjoy it
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