Mastering Panna Cotta – with Six Variations

Fresh Chevre Panna Cotta with Rhubarb Sauce, Basil Syrup, and Almond Praline_Closeup

To my palate, this is the perfect Panna Cotta. It is lightly set and lightly sweetened with a good balance between fat and lean dairy ingredients.

To develop this master recipe for panna cotta, I created a recipe grid that compares key ingredients across examples from 20+ respected cooks. As you might imagine, the key proportion of gelatin to total amount of liquid is all over the place in these examples. You should not be overtly aware that there is gelatin in this dessert when you are eating it. That aspect should be quite subtle.

This article includes tips & tricks for creating the most wonderul Panna Cotta imaginable, plus six inspired variations.

Filed Under: All Season, Desserts Tagged With: , , , , ,
June 19, 2011 By 4 Comments

Heavenly Almond Yogurt Cake with Fresh Strawberries, Strawberry Caramel Sauce & Basil Sauce

Almond Yogurt Olive Oil Cake with Fresh Strawberries, Fresh Basil Syrup & Cream Cheese Crema

When I happened upon the inspiration for this cake (Gourmet Traveler Magazine, Yoghurt & Almond Cake with Orange-Caramel Peaches & Vanilla Yoghurt), I puzzled over the ingredient proportions and procedure. Was there enough fat to produce a moist cake? Was there enough flour to produce a cake that could carry its own weight? Was the egg proportion too high?

Filed Under: All Season, Cakes, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
June 3, 2011 By 1 Comment

Spiced Green Apple Lemon Clafouti

Spiced Green Apple Lemon Clafouti, Serving on Plate

I ran into an interesting clafouti (pronounced klah-foo-tee) formula in an old magazine in a box in the garage recently and almost dismissed it because there can be no better clafouti than Fresh Apricot Ginger Peasant Cake.

As you may recall from that post, clafouti, an earthy cake from the region of Limousin in France, is comprised of a layer of cake-custard, topped with a layer of juicy fruit. The result can be rather more like cake or rather more like custard, depending on the proportions in the batter.

Filed Under: Autumn Leaves, Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
September 25, 2010 By 6 Comments

Ultimate Vanilla Pudding (Perfect Stove-Top Custard)

Ultimate Vanilla Pudding with Coconut Crumble & Whipped Cream

I intended to do a quick pudding post but, well, one thing led to another, and now I’ve done a mountain of research instead. The exploration began with a simple hankering for Caramel Pudding. I grabbed a standard formula from somewhere, went straight to the kitchen, and whipped it up in less than 10 minutes.

The only problem was that the end result had hardly any caramel flavor, even though I started with burnt sugar, and the texture was a little lumpy after chilling. In other words, not the perfect pudding I’m going to pass on to YOU.

Filed Under: Autumn Leaves, Desserts, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,
September 7, 2010 By 21 Comments

Torta della Nonna for My Darling Lily

Miss Lillian Mary Ellen (Lily)

I was pondering how to introduce the newest member of our family to you, dear readers, when my fabuloso sister-in-law, Mary-beth, suggested tying in Torta della Nonna, which truthfully, I knew nothing about. She fell in love with this simple and rich Italian tart in Italy, during a 5-day cooking course, at the beautiful Capezzana Wine and Culinary Center. Mary-beth says she ate a small slice of this tart every day during that stay and wishes she could continue that ritual indefinitely. This is her kind of tart. Let it be known that Mary-beth, former cooking instructor and continuing culinary maven is no slouch in the kitchen. If she says this cake is to die for, I believe it. And I must try it.

However, still unable to utter the “G” word without grimacing, I have been more preoccupied with what my darling granddaughter is going to call me than with announcing to the world that she has, at long last, ARRIVED. Even if that announcement involves a wonderful tart.

Filed Under: Desserts, Summer Sizzle Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
August 22, 2010 By 19 Comments

Peanut Butter Caramel

Peanut Butter Caramel Ice Cream Sundae with Caramelized Banana & Espresso Beans

A couple of weeks ago, in the post titled, Oh You Great Big Beautiful Blondie, I included a recipe for Caramel Blondies with a Peanut Butter Caramel Blondie variation. The post shows a layer of Blondie batter with dollops of Peanut Butter Caramel over the top and a second layer of batter being spread over the caramel. The lead photo also features the Peanut Butter Caramel Blondie variation.

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Summer Sizzle Tagged With: , , , , , ,
July 26, 2010 By 25 Comments

Strawberry Basil Sour Cream Gelato

Strawberry Basil Sour Cream Gelato

Portland, Oregon is gelato country. Not ice cream country—jeh-lah-toh country. No matter which direction I set out on my walk each day from Northwest PDX, I pass at least one gelato shop along the way.

The challenge is to walk by without stopping in for “just a taste.” One taste always leads to another taste, which always leads to a scoop each of two complementary flavors–one tart fruit based, the other cream based (as in sweet cream, cream cheese, crème fraiche, buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, or mascarpone). To my palate, it’s a perfect partnership.

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Summer Sizzle Tagged With: , , , , , ,
July 26, 2010 By 7 Comments

Heavenly Chocolate Beet Tea Loaf

Sliced Heavenly Chocolate Beet Tea Loaf

Bless your heart if you are actually reading this post rather than running for cover to another food blog. Yes, I know this combination sounds a tad bit unusual, but I assure you it is Pure Genius.

Lest you think I’m being immodest here, the idea is not mine. The combination was recently featured in Gourmet Traveler, and that’s where I first encountered it.

Filed Under: Chocolate, Desserts, Quick Breads, Recipes, Summer Sizzle Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
July 11, 2010 By 28 Comments
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