Valentine’s Day Treat 2009
Everyone should have a few romantic, indulgent recipes for special occasions. I love simple and elegant food. Add the romance and you’ve got a sure winner. Martha Stewart has this one—Rose Water Panna Cotta—below in her current magazine, at least a version of it. I didn’t like the fruits she paired with it—canned lychees? And where do you find edible rose petals, fresh ones, at this time of year? Not in my Publix, for sure. She also suggests raspberries, which I think are a good idea, but the raspberries in our market are not so good right now and VERY expensive. Minding the budget, which we all have to do these days, I went with blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries which are all at bargain rates and in perfect shape. Here is the result:
Rose Water Panna Cotta
(adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe)
1 cup heavy cream
2 T sugar
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 T cold water
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
2 - 3 tsp rose water (or 1/2 tsp vanilla or 1/4 tsp almond flavoring)
1 drop red food coloring (optional)
fresh berries for decoration
1. MIx cream and sugar in a small saucepan, heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves and remove from heat. Do not allow cream to boil.
2. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small bowl and allow to soften, about 2 minutes. Add to hot cream mixture and stir until dissolved.
3. Put mascarpone in a medium bowl and strain cream mixture over it. Straining twice may seem silly, but it will make the result silken smooth. Stir until mascarpone is thoroughly mixed in.
4. Add rose water and coloring, stir and strain again into measuring cup or bowl with a pour spout.
5. Pour mixture into 4 demitasse cups, decorative bowls, or pretty wine glasses. Chill at least 2 hours.
6. Just before serving, either unmold or leave in containers, decorate with berries, and serve.
Here’s the hardest part of this very easy recipe—the ingredients. Mascarpone is Italian cream cheese—milder than what we think of as cream cheese—don’t know if you could substitute. Rose water I happened to have in the cupboard, and it has been there for years and is still good. The cream I got was exceptionally thick and rich, which of course made the results even more so:
The rose water going in—you probably could use vanilla or almond flavoring, but the rose water was really lovely and unusual:
And now the dishes—Martha used demitasse cups and then unmolded the panna cotta after it chilled. Why go to that trouble? Use a pretty dish that shows it off, like wine glasses. Then decorate with berries. I finished off with a dusting of powdered sugar. Pretty or what? And really very easy.
Martha’s got lots more Valentine goodie ideas on her website: http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/valentines-day-treats. But this one (slightly revised) is in her February magazine with the gorgeous cupcakes on the cover.
