The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.
This is the first challenge I actually made almost as soon as I read it. Right before putting my place up for sale some friends of mine came over to help me clean out the spare bedroom. They stayed for dinner and I decided to serve them the panna cotta and cookies for dessert. I chose to make Kahlua Panna Cotta with a coffee gelee layer, because I like coffee with my cookies. The panna cotta came together very well, but I had some difficulty with the cookies. With my first batch, I made each cookie too big so it turned into one giant cookie. With the second batch I put fewer cookies on the sheet, but they were still too big. The third batch was the charm. I put about a teaspoon of dough per cookie. I’m not really sure if the cookies were supposed to spread as much as they did, I may have put too much butter in the batter. They tasted really good, but I found them a little greasy.
On the other hand, the Kahlua panna cotta with coffee gelee was perfect. The panna cotta was rich and creamy and the coffee gelee was cool and refreshing. I will definitely make it again.
Kahlua Panna Cotta
- 1 1/2 tsp gelatin
- 1/4 cup Kahlua
- 3 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- In a stainless steel bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the Kahlua. Place the bowl over simmering water and stir until the gelatin has completely dissolved.
- In a large sauce pan, combine the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a boil for one minute.
- Pour the hot cream mixture over the Kahlua and gelatin, stirring until completely combined.
- Pour the mixture into greased molds or cups. Chill for 3 hours. Once set, pour the coffee gelee mixture into the molds.
Coffee Gelee
- 2 cups hot coffee
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (from one 1/4-oz envelope)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- In a sauce pan, bring 1/4 cup water to boil with the sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved then remove from heat.
- Mix the gelatin with a tablespoon of cold water. Combine the gelatin, sugar syrup, coffee and vanilla together. Let cool completely
- Pour over the set panna cotta. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- The panna cottas can be served in the mold, or turned out onto a plate.