A couple weeks ago, I ate at Babbo and tried a saffron panna cotta (Babbo review coming). I loved the texture! Just that right kind of wobble. So when I came across Mario Batali's saffron panna cotta recipe as I was perusing the internet, it was an easy decision which base to use with orange, my chosen flavoring.

Perhaps it's a little unusual, or maybe it's a sign of these progressive culinary times, but despite my many uses of various newer hydrocolloids, I had never used gelatin before I made this.

Now that's not really an accurate statement, because in truth I've used gelatin every time I've made a rich, unctuous stock, or set a gelee with the naturally occurring coagulants from animal bones, and even used gelatin filtration to clarify a stock. But I had never used gelatin as an additive, either in powdered form, or in sheet form. I don't even think I ever made (or liked) jell-o as a kid. But I found myself using it the other day when making this. Good panna cotta requires such a specific wobbly texture. A bit too rigid and it doesn't have that creamy mouthfeel, the problem with most panna cottas. But a bit too fluid and it won't set. So while I could have experimented, possibly with some combination of kappa and iota carrageenans, or even gellan, I decided to stick to the recipe, vegetarians be damned! I needed this to work the first time.

And it was great. The key to this recipe is that it uses about as small an amount of gelatin as it could possibly get away with. So it takes a while to set, but once it does, it's just a perfect jiggly mouthfeel. Yum. So here's an orange panna cotta, adapted from Batali's saffron panna cotta.

• 3 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Zest and juice of 2 oranges, preferably Valencia or navel
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 3/4 cup whole milk

Combine the cream, sugar, and zest and bring to a boil, stirring gently, then remove from the heat. Let the mixture rest for ten minutes to infuse with the orange zest's color and flavor. Then stir the powdered gelatin into the cream mixture until it dissolves, then stir in the orange and lemon juice, and the milk. If you don't want the zest to settle to the bottom (which will eventually be the top), strain through a fine-mesh sieve. But I like the way the zest looks on top of it.

Pour into chilled ramekins, or wine glasses. Unmold by running the tip of a knife around the edge of the cup, then dip the cup quickly into hot water, and then shake out onto a plate.

Posted by Barzelay on 2008/04/18 @ 19:14 | Comments (0) | Desserts, Food Additives

Name

Email

URL

Remember personal info? Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.