Tiramisu panna cotta and amaretti biscuits
Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Setting time: at least 3 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.
Ingredients
Panna Cotta
3 sheets of gelatine *
150ml milk
600g double cream
40ml strong espresso coffee (instant will be fine)
80ml Kahlua or tia Maria (or any coffee liqueur)
1 vanilla pod
75g caster sugar
80g mascarpone cheese
Amaretti Biscuits
200g icing sugar plus extra for dusting
200g ground almonds
2 egg whites
1 tbsp amaretti liqueur
* 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. I like Dr Oetker’s platinum grade. 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
Soak the gelatine in the milk.
Place the vanilla pod, sugar, mascarpone and cream in a pan and give it a good stir to stop the sugar sticking to the bottom and burning. 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 a third 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. Add the coffee and liqueur and stir. Leave to cool a little (you need the cream to lose some of its heat but not be so cold it has started to set). Fold through the mascarpone cream mixture in and pour into moulds. Leave in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours but at least 5 would be better.
Biscuits
Using a stand mixer or hand whisk whip the egg whites to stiff peaks - this will take 5-10 minutes. You can do this by hand but beware your arm will ache at the end of it.
In another bowl add the icing sugar and ground almonds and mix. Add the amaretti liqueur and a spoonful of egg whites into the almons mix and mix through to slacken the mixture a little. Add the rest of the egg whites and slowly and carefully fold through until it comes together. Place in the fridge for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180c.
To make, line a baking tray with either a silpat liner or grease proof paper. Take a tablespoon of the dough and roll into a ball (what actually works perfectly here is a small ice cream scoop). Roll in icing sugar and push down to squash. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.
- The biscuit recipe is by Valeria Necchio and taken from Veneto