Sunday, February 27, 2011

DB: Panna Cotta and Florentines





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.



I made mine lemon-flavored by using lemon gelatin powder instead of plain and throwing in some lemon zest. I made mine in a spring form pan atop a graham cracker crust, much like a no-bake cheesecake. It was delicious, but next time I will let it set a little longer in the fridge before digging in.



The florentines were delicate, crisp and lacy. Word of caution: You absolutely need a silicone mat or parchment for easy removal from the baking tray.

Lemon Panna Cotta
adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons lemon flavored Jell-o powder
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon sugar
zest from 1 lemon
Pinch salt

Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey, sugar, zest and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour into serving dishes. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.

Florentines
Nestle

2/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cups quick oats
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/2 dark or milk chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly.

Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.

While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (double boiler).

Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper. Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom of your cookie, sandwiching another cookie atop the chocolate.

20 comments:

shelley c. said...

Oh my gosh, what a great idea to prepare the panna cotta like a no-bake cheesecake! I love a graham cracker crust, so this sounds extra tasty to me! Your florentines look amazing, as well. Great job.

Gourmande in Osaka said...

That looks as great. Surely lemon flavor is delicious.

Romantic Dinner said...

Lovely and colorful its Lemon Panna Cotta . Really its recipe very testy and healthy. mind blowing your idea for food and nice details shared in the post.thanks

Sinful Southern Sweets said...

That looks fabulous!! Great Job!

Anna said...

This looks awesome- I love the graham cracker crust!

Anonymous said...

Great idea to do a graham cracker crust for your panna cotta! I bet it was delicious!

Cakebrain said...

yummy! I think panna cotta is so delicious! Do love florentines too! They're a perfect foil in textures!

Audax said...

OMG those cookies look so so so thin and crispy and lacy some of the best I have seen so far wonderful result. And the 'no-bake' cheese cake panna cotta is a brilliant idea well done overall a gorgeous result.

Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

Anonymous said...

You're an anorectic.. you actually eat the shit you bake? LOL what a fat ass.

Mary @Delightful Bitefuls said...

Oh my! This looks absolutely delicious!!

Mary xx
Delightful Bitefuls

Ms. Z. said...

Thanks so much for the lovely comment on my blog! I really like your blog too. I am following you now officially :)

Believe it or not, I was planning on doing the graham crust with my panna cotta too! When I came to actually doing it, I was too lazy so I gave up on that part. But yours sounds and looks delicious. It must've tasted awesome. Cheesecake…mhmhmh…. yum :)

xoxo,
Ms.Z.

Renata said...

How did you get such thin Florentines, mine looked like oatmeal cookies...
I love everything lemony and your dessert made me drool...
Tanks for your kind comment!

Katie Rose said...

ooh! What a great idea to make it like a no-bake cheesecake. Hmm, cheesecake flavored Panna Cotta, I see some experimenting in my future ;-)

chef_d said...

What a great idea to make it like a no-bake cheesecake! Love the lemon flavor too!

Mary said...

Amazing results this month, Tia! Your florentines look like gorgeous tuiles and they are the first ones that make me want to try this recipe. Lemon and graham crackers is a great combination. yum!

Leslie said...

Brilliant to do this in a crust! This was such a custard week that making it a tart would have made all the difference.

irvin said...

Lemon sounds so refreshing! I love the panna cotta idea of making it on top of graham cracker crust! Totally like no bake cheesecake! SUCH a great idea.

Jaime said...

great idea to pair it w/the crust! did you leave the oats out of the florentines? they look like tuiles!

Catalina said...

I love the idea of panna cotta being a cheesecake-like type of dessert - very creative! The addtion of lemon sounds wonderful + refreshing addition to the rich & creamy panna cotta :) Your florentines are truly beautiful. I love how lacy they are :)

Lea said...

I love how you made a cheesepie crust for the panna cotta!
And wow, your florentine cookies are SOOO thin! How did you do that?
Amazing job :)