Earl Gray Panna Cotta with Lemon Raspberry Sauce

It was sunny.  Tea seemed nice.  So did ice cream.  And pudding.  And popsicles.

This is what happened...

Earl gray infused panna cotta with raspberry sauce, and a hint of lemon, and lots of sunshine.

For the panna cotta:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (or more of milk or cream but just 3 cups total, depends on how rich you want)
6 tbsp sugar (I used brown sugar, simply because it was what I had a lot of, I think regular would be better)
3-5 bags tea, I used earl gray
2 tsp gelatin, so 1 packet -1/4 tsp for the brand I used

Mix the milk and cream.  Heat 1 1/2 cups mixture and the sugar to just a simmer, add tea bags and let infuse for maybe 10-15 minutes.

Put other half cream/milk mixture in a bowl, sprinkle gelatin over it to bloom.  Then whisk!

Remove tea bags from milk/cream/sugar mixture.  Heat again to boiling, then whisk into the gelatin mixture to dissolve gelatin.  If it does not dissolve all gelatin, then heat the whole thing in a double boiler, whisking until dissolved.

Pour into molds, or ramekins.  I used a tea cake pan that had 12 spots, the mixture filled all 12, perfect!  I had leftover to fill 1 ramekin, too.

Let sit in refrigerator for at least 8 hours.  I just left mine overnight (it makes a good breakfast!)

To unmold use a towel and hot hot water.  I actually used a hairdryer a little bit, because the cake pan I used as a mold was super thick metal, so the hot water didn't get through the chill.  But on the ramekin the towel worked just fine.  If you're having trouble, run a knife around the outer edge, and with your hand on the panna cotta, jiggle it, you know, that made no sense...

Anyways, they are delicious!

For the raspberry sauce:
some raspberries, maybe 2 pints?
a lemon
some sugar
a bit of raspberry jam, seedless is good, not necessary though, just perhaps 1-2 tbsp
the leftover 1/4 tsp gelatin from above, or maybe more or less if you want

Puree raspberries.  Heat the puree in a pan with the jam.  Make it pretty hot, but not boiling or anything.

Taste it, add sugar to taste, remember there will be lemon too.  Let the sugar dissolve.  Stir.

Bloom gelatin in lemon juice.  Add to raspberry mixture.  Let melt and dissolve and all that.

Then let the whole thing cool.  If it is too thick, whisk in more lemon juice, or some simple syrup, depending on your tastes.

Serve the sauce over the panna cotta.  Garnish with mint or something, I didn't have anything pretty though...

(confession:  I ate mine right out of the mold for breakfast this morning...with leftover chocolate sauce... and the raspberry sauce...)

Madeleines with Strawberry Sauce

Moist, sweet madeleines and fresh strawberries, served with a drizzle of vanilla custard sauce.  

Madeleines:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Sift together dry ingredients.  Set aside.

In mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick and increased in size, three to five minutes.  Add extracts and beat to combine.

Fold in flour, do not overmix.  Add a small amount of batter to butter and mix well, then slowly fold butter mixture into batter.

Chill for about an hour.

Oven at 375 degrees.  Butter and flour madeleine pan.  I used a miniature madeleine pan.  Fill the molds (about 3/4 the way full, leaving the mound in the center) and bake until golden around the edges and springy to the touch.  My minis took between seven and ten minutes.  When you remove them from the oven they should come out of the molds easily.

Strawberry Sauce:
5 strawberries
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds

Dice strawberries quite small.  Mix with sugar and seeds from the vanilla bean.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for a minute.  Let sit in refrigerator until chilled.  Best served after chilling a day or two, but still good otherwise.

Vanilla Custard Sauce
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup half and half (it was what I had, you can use a cream/milk mixture also)
1/2 tbsp water
1 vanilla bean, seeds separated
2 tbsp sugar

Whisk egg yolks and sugar until frothy on top.  Heat remaining ingredients in a saucepan until it is almost boiling.  Whisk hot cream mixture into eggs, then return all to saucepan and heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula.  Heat until it is a loose custard, about 1-2 minutes.  Let cool to room temperature, then chill.

Serve with the sauces and enjoy!

Lemon Curd

Tart, sweet and creamy lemon curd is good on just about anything!

Recipe:
2 eggs + 2 yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup lemon juice/zest of the lemons
1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
pinch of cardamon
salt

Whisk eggs and yolks in a sauce pan until well blended.  Add the rest of the ingredients, and whisk over low heat until it coats the back of a spoon.  Pour into a jar or dish and refrigerate until chilled.

Enjoy on anything you'd like, or eat by the spoonful!

Red Wine and Ginger Syrup (with poached pears)

Rich dark syrup with a strong wine flavor and a hint of ginger and spice.  Goes wonderful with pears.

Recipe:
1 bottle red wine (this is what your syrup will taste like, so use one you enjoy)
1 1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh ginger, sliced
1/2 cup water
2-4 tsp ground white pepper

Boil the water with the ginger in it, after five minutes add wine, sugar and pepper and reduce heat.  Simmer until it is a medium-thin syrup, it will thicken quite a bit as it cools.  Strain out ginger.  It's done now.  Use it warm or at room temperature.

Variation with pears:

Increase water to 2 1/2 cups, add all ingredients to pot at once and also add a few peeled pears (I used the Bosc variety).  Simmer for about half an hour, turn the pears over a few times while it is simmering so they cook evenly and get pretty colored.  Remove pears.  Let the remaining liquid turn to syrup.  Remove from heat, strain out ginger.  Serve the pears with the syrup.  I like whipped cream on it.

Uses:
Over waffles (especially good with my new recipe coming soon - spicy nut waffles)
On yogurt for breakfast (good with the greek yogurt, feels like dessert for breakfast!)
In drinks (I like it in sparkling water)
As a drizzle on a plate (very pretty with a slice of chocolate cake)

And whatever else you can think of!