Lemon panna cotta with raspberries: Panna cotta al limone con lamponi

Panna cotta (or “cooked milk”) must be the world’s simplest dessert; yet it impresses guests and tastes wonderful. It’s really a blank canvass to add other flavors, in this case, lemon and raspberries. It’s best to make it the day before serving and refrigerate overnight.

The cream is thickened by adding gelatin.  There are two types of gelatin products available. 1) powdered gelatin and 2) gelatin sheets.

When using the powder, the cream in the Panna cotta combines with the gelatin to soften it. When using the sheets, you soak them in cold water to soften and remove and drain them and place in the panna cotta mixture. The attached recipe uses the gelatin sheets. If using the powder, add it to the cream and sugar at the beginning and let is soften for about 5 minutes before you begin cooking. One (1) packet of powdered gelatin equals 4 sheets.

For this recipe, the raspberry sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated.

Serves 6 to 8 people.

Ingredients and Directions:

• 4 gelatin sheets
• 4 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup sugar
• Grated zest from 1 lemon
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

Raspberry sauce

• 2 10-ounce containers of fresh raspberries
• 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced

In a bowl of cool water, place the gelatin sheets to soften.

In a saucepan gently heat the cream. Add the sugar. Drain the gelatin sheets with your hands and add to the cream. Whisk well. Add the grated lemon and lemon juice. Bring the cream to a simmer infusing the flavors for about 10 minutes. Continue to whisk. Once it thickens pour mixture into 6 dessert cups. Place cups onto a tray and then put in the refrigerator to chill and set about 6 hours or overnight. Serve with raspberry sauce and top with a few fresh raspberries and a lemon shaving if you like.

For the raspberry sauce

In a blender, combine one container of raspberries, powdered sugar and lemon juice. Reserve the second container of raspberries for topping your dessert. Puree the mixture. Over a bowl strain puree into a sieve using a rubber spatula to separate the seeds. Place the sauce in a measuring cup (or something you can easily pour from), cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.