michelle picker cooks

A luscious dessert of creamy vanilla panna cotta and tart honey-poached fruit.

To make the panna cotta sprinkle 4½ teaspoons of gelatine powder over 90ml (3 fl oz) of cold water in a large bowl and allow it to soak. Combine 2 cups of milk, 2 cups of cream and 100g (3½ oz) of sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved and small bubbles appear around the edges of the milk mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste. Pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl and stir to dissolve the gelatine. Pour into individual cups and refrigerate for a few hours before carefully removing them from their molds.

Any poached fruit would taste good with vanilla panna cotta. If using tamarillos (also known as tree tomatoes) cut a small cross into the skin at the bottom of each fruit and immerse in a bowl of boiling water for a minute or so before peeling. Place 8 – 10 peeled and cut tamarillos into a saucepan with ½ a cup of fresh or frozen cherries, 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste and ¼ – ½ a cup of honey to taste. Cook over low heat until soft.