Sweet Tooth Sunday

This is so becoming one of my favorite things of the week.

'Cause anyone who knows me knows that baking is like therapy, and sugar just makes it twice as effective. STS makes me one happy girl.

This week, prepare to be amazed.

Ok, maybe not amazed.

Well, yah, amazed!

I kind of stumbled upon Panna Cotta a couple of weeks ago. Saw the term somewhere. Otherwise, I'd never heard of it. Of course my interest was piqued. So I started googling recipes and feeling it out to see which direction I wanted to take it. I made a traditional Panna Cotta, and while it was good, I didn't think it was *that* good. I knew I needed to play with the recipe some to please these taste buds.

Today, I give you the made over version. The Catey version. The "it's yummy and it's even better because it makes me think of summer and would still be unbelievably yummy in the dead of winter (and maybe even more so since thinking of summer in the winter is good)" version.

Whew. That's a lot of hype.

I give you.......Coconut Panna Cotta.

with a little twist too.

I'm a bit obsessed with coconut at this moment in life. Can you tell?

Your cast: Coconut milk, Cream, Powdered Sugar, Coconut extract, Gelatin.

Yep, this one is on the rich side!

And if you go for the twist: Pomegranate juice, boiling water, gelatin, sugar.

Let's hit the basics first.

Dissolve gelatin in 1/3 c Coconut milk, set aside. (yes, it thickens up, so don't panic if it looks like a bowl of sludge)

Pour cream and powdered sugar into saucepan.

Cook it until it's hot. This is the only tricky part here, 'cause how hot is "hot"? Don't boil it, just get it right about to simmering point, then remove from heat.

Add the gelatin/milk mixture and the coconut extract immediately, stir until all gelatin bits are dissolved and it is a smooth mixture.

Now pour it into whatever.

This time I chose these glasses, *BUT* traditionally this is done in a custard cup used as a mold. Just grease the custard cup with almond oil or melted butter before you pour in the mixture. Then after it's set, soak the bottom in hot water for a few seconds, flip it over and it slips out. (you can google panna cotta and see all the pics of what that looks like)

Now-stick those suckers in the fridge and let it set. Usually a good set time is at least 4hrs.

Try to find something to do to occupy yourself while you are waiting. In theory you could tackle that ironing that has piled up for way too long.

Nah.

(I chose shoot pool and read a book instead of ironing. Maybe I'll do ironing tomorrow.)

Once that time is up, Voila!

(remember, presentation is everything, right?)

If you are going for the twist, here is one thing you can do during that wait time.

(after about an hour or two-depending on the temperature of your fridge-so that the panna cotta is set on top)

Sorry, no pics, I was a little preoccupied with anticipation of yumminess.

Boil some water, dissolve gelatin in 2oz boiling water. Once dissolved, add pomegranate juice and sugar and mix thoroughly (until all sugar is dissolved as well). That's it. Can you believe it? Sometimes the most amazing things are so simple.

(I'm so bummed that my camera battery was dying. The Pomegranate is such a gorgeous ruby red color!)

The pomegranate gelatin is on the tart side on it's own, but with the very rich coconut, it is an amazing combination!

Coconut Panna Cotta

1/3 c cocnut milk

1 pkg unflavored gelatin

2 1/2 c heavy or whipping cream

1/2 c powdered sugar

3 tsp coconut extract

Dissolve gelatin in coconut milk, set aside. Pour cream into saucepan, add powdered sugar. Cook over low-med heat until simmering point. Remove from heat, stir in coconut extract and gelatin mixture until no bits of gelatin remain. Pour into serving glasses or into greased custard cups (if inverting for serving). Place in fridge to cool and set, at least 4 hours.

Pomegranate Gelatin

2 oz boiling water

1 pkg gelatin

8 oz pomegranate juice

1 Tbsp sugar

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in pomegranate juice and sugar until all sugar is dissolved. Pour over panna cotta (make sure it is set first!), place back in fridge to finish set.