Panna Cotta, Exotic Vanila

About the verrines

Just a foreword about the "verrine" (French name for the small glasses where these desserts are served)

All glasses being different, the quantities I indicated above must be adjusted with your glasses "verrines". Take small glasses, you can find them easily at stores like Macy's or "Home Goods". I added some links for online order.

Double-Wall Insulate GlassMini Flare Glass

Vanilla Panna Cotta

1. Bloom the Gelatin Sheets (0.17 oz or 5 g) in cold water with ice cubes

2. For the Vanilla Beans (2) : With a sharp little knife, split the bean half, lengthwise, and scrape the seeds

3.  You may substitute with Vanilla Paste which is easier to find (and maybe cheaper). However, avoid Vanilla Extract which is not as tasty

Gelatin SheetsLarge Mixing Bowls, Stainless Steel

Once used, do not waste the beans !

Store those scraped beans, let them dry and use them : See HERE for some recipes that use them, like the vanilla sugar

Madagascar Vanilla BeansPure Vanilla Bean Paste

4. In a saucepan, pour the vanilla seeds, the Cream (2 ¼ Cups or 500 g) and the Sugar (⅓ Cup or 75 g)

5.  Cook and stir, and remove before the boiling point

Scanpan SaucepanCalphalon Nonstick Sauce Pan KitchenAid Silicone Spatula Set Le Creuset Silicone Spatula

6. Take the bloomed (softened) gelatin, and squeeze the excess water

7. Pour into the hot saucepan and stir : the gelatin will dissolve

8. Transfer onto a measuring cup with spout (very convenient to pour into verrines), with a sieve, to filter anything you don't want (such as vanilla bean scrapes, or cooked cream, etc... )

OXO Mini Strainer

9. To make the verrine result pretty, I like to "tilt" the verrine glasses. To do this, I use a silicone mold to tilt and stabilize the glasses

10. Pour the liquid, still warm/hot onto the verrine glasses

11.  Allow to cool down in the fridge, for at 2 hours

The Exotic Soft Jam

12. After the resting time, let's make the exotic "confit" (soft jam). In a saucepan, pour the Mango puree (2 ½ Cups or 600 g) and the Passionfruit puree (1 Cup or 250 g)

13.  I use frozen purées, that I find in professional stores (in Los Angeles : Surfas), or in specialty stores (Cuban or Mexican stores. In Los Angeles: SuperA or 'El Mambi')

14. In a clean mixing bowl, mix the Sugar (1 Cup or 200 g) and the Powdered Pectin NH (1 Tablespoon or 10 g) (this avoids lumps)

Kitchen Scale

15.  Bring to the boiling point those purées

16. Pour the Pectin/Sugar mix and stir

17. Cook until its starts boiling, until the liquid starts to thicken. However, do not cook too long ! We want a soft confit, a liquid that is not as thick as a jam, but thicker than water

18. Transfer onto a measuring cup with spout

19. Take the verrines outta the fridge : the panna cotta should be gelified by now

20. Pour the confit

Transfer Pipettes