While I have added a little honey here it’s definitely optional as there is a real sweetness to the coconut milk and cream. Taste it as you go and see if you want to drop the honey back. Gelatine is a magic ingredient but one that budding cooks are often nervous about using. Given that the success of a panna cotta depends on it having a good ‘wobble’, I would recommend practising on a smaller volume first if you’re worried. You want it to be silky in the mouth and not overset. Raspberries are one of summer’s delights but any berry at all would be perfect here, and in fact my favourite of all is mulberries if you can get some. We have a huge tree in our chook yard, which sounds great I know, but it is so tall and the best fruit is always up so high that I’m just as likely to have purple-stained hair as purple-stained hands as I pick.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 ml) coconut milk
- 1 cup (250 ml) coconut cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 50 g raw honey
- 5 x 2 g gold-strength gelatine leaves
- 200 g raspberries, blackberries or mulberries
- ½ cup (40 g) flaked almonds, lightly toasted
- Place the coconut milk, coconut cream, vanilla and honey in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat.
- Meanwhile, separate the gelatine leaves and add to a bowl of ice-cold water. Stand for 5 minutes or until soft. Drain the gelatine and squeeze out the excess liquid. Add to the hot coconut mixture and stir until dissolved. Strain through a fine sieve and pour into four ½ cup (125 ml) capacity moulds or cups. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 3 hours.
- To serve, remove the panna cottas from the refrigerator and dip the bottom of the moulds briefly in hot water to loosen. Invert the panna cottas onto serving dishes and stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Scatter the panna cottas with the berries and flaked almonds and serve immediately.
