A Trio Of Delectable Desserts!

This was the dessert I served at Easter along with 2 little bunny (sugar) cookies. Here’s the recipe for the cookies. http://cookwithcindy.blogspot.com/search?q=sugar+cookies I make them for lots of special occasions. They are relatively easy for rolled cookies and dress up well!

Panna Cotta in Italian means “Cooked Cream”. The texture was perfectly smooth and creamy, but they didn’t set up as well as I would have liked. My main refrigerator in the kitchen was bursting at the seems with food so I placed the Panna Cottas in my small under-counter fridge that is outside to chill. It was an unusually hot day so that fridge wasn’t quite cold enough to set them properly, but no one complained and they tasted delicious! I increased the recipe by half-again since I was serving 10.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Tbsps. (which is 1 1/2 envelopes) unflavored gelatin
3 Tbsp. cold water
3 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:
In a small saucepan sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand about 1 minute to soften. Heat gelatin mixture over low heat until gelatin is dissolved and remove pan from heat.
In a large saucepan bring cream, half and half, and sugar just to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring so it doesn’t scorch. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture and vanilla. Divide cream mixture among 10 (1/2 cup) ramekins and cool to room temperature. Chill ramekins, covered at least 4 hours or overnight. Next time I will make the night before serving!

To serve: Dip ramekins, 1 at a time, into a bowl of hot water for 3 seconds. Run a knife around edge of each ramekin and invert ramekin onto the center of a small plate. I served them in small, crystal bowls with about 4 Tbsp. of Raspberry Coulis on the bottom of the bowl and also topped the Panna Cottas with additional sauce and a few fresh raspberries. A coulis is simply a strained puree of fruit or veg. Panna Cotta is very mild since it is mainly just cream so this vibrant sauce was the perfect spark for this dessert.

I found this recipe online (https://thecafesucrefarine.com/easy-raspberry-coulis/) and thought it interesting that frozen raspberries are recommended over fresh. According to this Blogger they render a more intense raspberry flavor and ensure a deep, rich red color.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. water
12 ounces frozen raspberries, thawed

I nabbed this photo from their website as I didn’t have time to take one of my own while serving.

Preparation:
Combine sugar and water in a 1 cup microwave-save cup or bowl. Stir to combine. Mixture will be very thick. Cook in the microwave on high power for 2 minutes. Stir for 5-10 seconds to dissolve sugar crystals.
Combine frozen raspberries and hot syrup in a blender. Blend until mixture is smooth and pureed. Pour the puree through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium-sized bowl. Pouring does not really occur as the mixture is quite thick. You will need to stir and push the solids with the back of a large spoon or rubber spatula until all of the liquid has been pushed through. This will take several minutes and was, by far, the most difficult part of putting this Coulis together, but worth every minute! Discard the seeds. Store in the refrigerator up to a week or in the freezer for 2-3 months.

This is the most unlikely combination of ingredients, but I happened to have 2 very ripe avocados that I needed to use so went to the web to look for something different. You would never know there are avocados in this decadent chocolate dessert and I recommend taking the word “avocado” out of the title and presenting as a DARK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE! Very ‘moussey’, sublime texture and intense chocolate flavor with NO hint of avocado!

Ingredients:
2 large very ripe avocados
4 oz. 70% cacao baking chocolate melted
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup Almond milk (I used Coconut Almond milk)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
Sea Salt

Preparation:
In a food processor, combine avocados melted chocolate, cocoa powder, maple syrup, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of Sea Salt. Puree until creamy. Spoon the mousse into 4 small ramekins and chill for at least 1 hour.

I think this would be really yummy served with a coffee whipped cream with slivers of chocolate or toasted nuts for texture contrast.

We’ll finish today with a…

Ingredients:
4 1/2 to  cups very ripe mangos (about 2 lbs.) peeled and diced
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar*
1 tsp. fresh lime juice (more or less to taste)
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt (more or less to taste)
* The mangos I used were very sweet so I used less sugar.

Preparation:
Pack diced mangoes in a blender with water and blend on high speed until very smooth. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a large measuring cup, pushing puree through strainer with a spoon until you have 3 cups of puree. Reserve the remainder for another use. (Great in a smoothy!)
Transfer strained puree into a large bowl and whisk in sugar until well dissolved. Whisk in lime juice and salt adjusting flavors. Chill the puree in the fridge until very cold; 2-3 hours or overnight. Churn in ice cream maker according to your machine. Mine takes about 20-25 minutes for both ice cream or sorbet.
Transfer to an airtight container and chill in freezer at least 4 hours before serving.