Orange panna cotta with pomegranate and Prosecco jelly
Serves 8
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Setting time: at least 8 hours
My favourite desserts are crème brûlée and Panna cotta. I love them, smooth creamy and so good. I like my crème brûlée to be vanilla and not messed with - the Panna cotta is where I like to experiment. You can either set this in a loaf tin, a straight Bundt tin (I worry it won’t come out of a Bundt tin with an intricate detail) or you can just set in a glass. Whatever you decide to use, the panna cotta will be on the bottom and the jelly on the top. If you set in something you are going to turn out then start with the jelly and top with the panna cotta.
Ingredients
Pomegranate Jelly
200g caster sugar
250ml water
450g pomegranate seeds
6 sheets leaf gelatine *
750ml bottle prosecco
Panna Cotta
6 sheets of gelatine *
120ml milk
1.2 litres double cream
2 orange zests
2 vanilla pods
150g caster sugar
* I have found that different makes of gelatine require slightly different amounts. Try to stick to the same make so you are more confident with how it will work out. Always read the back and don’t add more sheets than recommended. I have a tendency to push it too much the other way, I want that perfect wobble so tend to err on the side of less (this does sometimes cause me issues and always causes me stress)
Method
For the Jelly:
Soak the gelatine in 100ml of water. Put the remaining water and the sugar in a large saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Add the pomegranate, bring to the boil and bubble for 5 minutes without stirring. After 5 minutes the liquid should smell of the pomegranate and it will be syrupy. Strain into a very large jug without stirring or disturbing the fruit too much. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and stir into the hot syrup, ensuring it is totally melted.
Very slowly and carefully pour the Prosecco into the pomegranate syrup. It fizzes up a lot which is why you need to go slowly.
Take your loaf tin or mould and put ½ tsp flavourless oil over it and then line with clingfilm - you need the clingfilm to be as smooth as possible and the oil will help this.
Pour the jelly into the mould, it should come a maximum of half way up the mould. Put into the fridge and leave to set for a minimum of 5 hours but 8 would be better.
For the Panna Cotta:
Soak the gelatine in the milk. Split the vanilla pods in half and scrape out the seeds, putting both the pods and seeds into a milk pan along with the orange zest, sugar and the cream and bring to the boil. Slowly cook until reduced by a third. (How can you tell if it is truly a third? Before I start I pour in two thirds to see where the level sits and try to remember where the level was. I then pour in the rest and carry on as before.)
Add the milk and gelatine to the hot cream, stir until melted and then pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a measuring jug. Leave to cool only 5 - 10 minutes until lukewarm and then very carefully pour over the jelly. Leave in the fridge for at least 3 hours but at least 5 would be better.
When you want to serve, carefully put a serving plate or board on the top of your mould and very carefully turn it over, carefully removing the clingfilm.