I love Panna Cotta, the creamy Italian vanilla flavoured dessert, but I haven’t tried making it before.
Then Sainsbury’s got in touch to ask if I would like to try one of their 'Make Your Own' panna cotta packs.
Well, having looked at the method for making panna cotta, which incidentally translates as ‘cooked cream’ in Italian, the MYO version sounded like a cinch.
The postie had shoved the box of panna cotta through my letterbox, but the contents were still intact. It was essentially a bag of powder to which you added semi-skimmed milk and double cream. My semi-skimmed was getting a bit low so I opted for my almond milk instead to go with the cream.
I added it all to the saucepan, brought it to a boil and the simmered for a couple of minutes before pouring them mix into my chosen moulds. I had intended to get some heart shaped moulds to tie in with Valentine ’s Day, but could I find any? Could I heck!
So, instead I rummaged through my cupboards and found some silicone cupcake cases. The box said there were 4 servings inside, but I got 7 smaller portions using the cupcake cases. I chilled them in the fridge for a few hours and then to unmould, I popped the cases in some warm water for a few seconds, to ‘melt’ the outside a little.
To accompany my ‘mini’ panna cottas, I made a tangy syrup out of fresh blueberries and one of my favorite liquers, limoncello – another Italian element to this dish! Blueberry and lemons are a great combination. I boiled some blueberries with water until they popped and reduced a bit, before adding limoncello and let this burn off a little.
The syrup was fruity and sharp – a perfect contrast to the sweet and creamy pudding.
Sainsbury’s MYO version certainly saved time and resulted in quite a fancy dessert!
Here’s how I made the syrup.
Blueberry and Limoncello Syrup
Fresh blueberries and limoncello liquer make this tempting slightly naughty syrup Cuisine: Dessert Category: Sauce Yields: 7 mini
Prep Time: 10 Mins Chill Time: 3 Hrs Total Time: 3 Hrs 10 Mins
Ingredients
- 100 grams fresh blueberries
- 2 tablespoons water
- 6 tablespoons limoncello liquer
- Place the blueberries and water in a saucepan and over medium heat stir until the berries have popped and the mixture is thicker and purple in color.
- Add the limoncello and simmer for about 3 minutes. Allow the syrup to cool before pouring over your panna cotta.
Disclosure Statement: I received the panna cotta mix free to review. I also received a Sainsbury's gift voucher. Any opinions expressed are entirely my own.
