Forgive me - I *know* I said that japchae would be my next post but I’ve got a backlog of about 6 recipes that I need to blog otherwise they are going to sit FOREVER in draft form, never being presented to the world! Which, quite frankly, would be a damn shame, especially since they (like this dish) are so damn delightful in their own ways!
I am a SUCKER for panna cotta - if I go out for dinner and it’s on the menu, I can tell you that it is easily my dessert of choice. So when I spotted a new recipe for me to try in Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet, I decided, what the heck - let’s give it a try!
So I did…and I don’t know if it’s just me not having quite the palate for overly rich foods, but while the texture was utterly dreamy, my family found the dessert to be far far too rich for consumption and after having one very satisfying teaspoon each, I ended up rather unceremoniously dumping the rest in the bin. However, I did want to try it again, perhaps in a form that we’d find more palatable, so just had a little bit of a fiddle to come up with these coffee bean infused panna cottas which were divine! Of course, the cream still made it a bit rich, but a nice, sharp rasberry puree to accompany helped to cut out the richness so we could each manage just a few more teaspoons 
This is not a dessert for everyday consumption, but if you’re looking for a rather special sweet treat to serve up at the end of a spectacular dinner party, they would probably fit the bill quite well!
Coffee Infused Panna Cotta with Sweet Raspberry Puree
(Adapted from ‘Bittersweet‘ by Alice Medrich)
Coffee Infused Panna Cotta Ingredients (makes 6 serves)
1/4 cup roasted coffee beans, broken into smaller pieces
3 1/4 cups thickened cream (use double cream if you don’t mind the heart-attack richness)
2 1/2 tbsp unflavoured gelatin
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup caster sugar
pinch of salt
1. Pour the roughly chopped coffee beans and the cream into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil while constantly stirring. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat off and leave to infuse for 20 minutes, giving it the occasional stir.
2. While the cream is infusing, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold milk in a small bowl and set aside for it to soften.
3. Once the cream has steeped, strain out the nibs, pressing lightly to extract all the liquid. Discard the nibs and return the cream to the saucepan and stir in the sugar. Bring the cream to a simmer.
4. Pour simmered cream into a large heatproof bowl, then slowly add the milk while constantly stirring, then add the salt. Set the bowl of cream over a bowl of ice and stir continuously till the mixture is lukewarm and has thickened.
5. Divide evenly between six 1/2-cup ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and leave in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours.
Raspberry Puree Ingredients
2/3 cup raspberries
3-4 tbsp caster sugar
1/4 cup cold water
To make the raspberry puree:
Pour all the ingredients into a small pot and heat over a low flame till it begins to simmer. Crush the berries lightly and simmer for another 1-2 minutes or till the sugar has completely dissolved, then remove from the heat and give a good blitz in a blender (or, if you have one, with a trusty immersion/stick blender!). Run it through a strainer then leave to cool in a clean bottle till required.
Just before serving, pour a few tablespoons of this ruby red puree over the panna cotta just before serving.
Technorati Tags: panna cotta, raspberry, desserts, sweets, Alice Medrich, Bittersweet, coffee beans, recipes
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Comments
Thanh I want to try making a panna cotta this year too. A lot of them require gelatin leaves, do you know where I can buy those Ellie. I’ve looked at Asian, Indian, Korean groceries but still no luck. I’ve tried delis too but again no luck.
Johanna Nice to see you getting through the backlog. To be honest I can\’t understand your panna cotta passion but I would eat the raspberry sauce all by itself. And your photos are so gorgeous that I still drool over them 
Katy that looks wonderful — and i’ve discovered i have a very high tolerance level for rich desserts! yum!
Joy This looks heavenly. I’ve never made panna cotta, but you’ve inspired me to try it soon!
Peter Ok… I now demand that you FedEx Overnight International the dessert to Houston!! :P That looks awesome… exp. in the cups!!
Deborah What a gorgeous dessert! I’ve never made a panna cotta at home, but I need to right away!
Graeme I love it when you can’t guess the flavour from the colour.Coffee & Raspberry sounds great.
neil Ooh, that looks lovely! I could’ve helped you out with some cut price raspberries for the sauce, we picked 3kg this last weekend. But how is it that you can happily order panna cotta when out, but it becomes too rich at home?
MyKitchenInHalfCups Really Ellie I will try panna cotta one day. You make it look and sound lovely.I know that raspberry puree would make me very happy.
Deborah Dowd I have never made panna cotta but you pictures and description intrigue me. And I love your creative way of making the dish with the raspberry sauce to provide a contrast… delicious!
cakebrain your panna cotta looks delicious! the jewel toneof the raspberry component is so beautiful with the panna cotta
stickyfingers OOooooooooooh! I want to dive right in! Yummo.BTW are you going to join the Melbourne Food bloggers at <a href=http://agoddessinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/02/bloggers-banquet-2.html>Bloggers Banquet 2?</a>
stickyfingers Crikey that bit of code didn’t go well! Sorry!Let’s try that again… info is at Purple Goddess’ blog if you are interested. Some bloggers will be car pooling to get there.http://agoddessinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2008/02/bloggers-banquet-2.htmlThere are also snaps of the last one on Flickr if you’re curious.
Ellie Kat - I think you most definitely should! It’s ridiculously easy!
Marija - Thanks
Thanh - A specialty store will lead you to victory, I think. Try CakeDeco in Flinders Arcade or The Essential Ingredient in Prahan.
Johanna - More than the flavour, the thing that does it for me with panna cotta is the texture - I’m a texture freak and the feeling of silk melting on the tongue is enough to give me a few thrills 
Katy - Thanks hon
Joy - I hope you do, it’s a very easy dessert to make!
Peter - Thanks! I’ll see what I can do about the FedExing
Deborah - I hope you do, I think you’ll enjoy it
Graeme - It was quite nice
Neil - Love your work! Next time I need a raspberry hit, I’ll be sure to look you up
Chriesi - Very tempting ;)Tanna - It’s a very lovely dessert, but definitely one for the odd special occasion!
Marye - Thank you!
Deborah - Thank you hon
Cakebrain - Thanks hon
RecipeGirl - Almost…it was very very good to eat
Barbara - It was nice, especially since I can no longer drink coffee
StickyFingers - Will email you about BB2
estelle oops, sorry, my computer did a bad. what i said was : whenever there is something too rich - CALL ME. i cried when i read the part about the pannacotta in the bin.
AT That panna cotta looks yummy!
I’m not a big fan of coffee…hence, can I exclude the coffee beans into the recipe? Can I instead switch it to something else? Say, caramel? (any other suggestions?) Thanks!p.s: LOVE your blog!
Ellie Absolutely! You could melt a few caramels into the cream, or try infusing some cacao nibs (which was part of the original recipe) Even a strained berry puree would (I think) work nicely!
I want to try making pannacotta this year!