Vanilla Panna Cotta with Bitter Gooseberry and Honey Coulis

Cape Gooseberries, with their wonderful bitter-sweet acidity, make the perfect topping for this vanilla panna cotta, cutting through the rich dessert with a fresh hit of Gooseberry flavour!

Ingredients

For the Coulis:

• 300g Cape Gooseberries (Puréed – see Method)
• 100 g Cape Gooseberries for decoration)
• ½ tsp gelatine
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon of honey

For the Panna Cotta:

• 2 teaspoons gelatine
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• ⅔ full cream milk
• 300ml thickened cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 Method

For the Coulis:

1. Grease four metal moulds (or ramekin dishes or glasses). Place four whole gooseberries in each mould; reserve remaining gooseberries. Set aside.
2. Purée gooseberries – De-cape and use a blender to purée 300 grams fresh Cape Gooseberries. Use a sieve to strain the purée to remove seeds and skin. Discard seeds and skin, reserving the Gooseberry purée for the next step.
3. Place the purée in a small saucepan and sprinkle gelatine and sugar over the gooseberry purée. Stir until sugar and gelatine have dissolved. Add honey and icing sugar to sweeten. Note: If the mixture tastes overly bitter, sweeten to your liking.
4. Cool and refrigerate until needed. NOTE: DO NOT let the coulis set. If mixture looks like it is starting to set, whisk until it returns to a sauce consistency.
5. While the sauce is cooling, make the vanilla panna cotta.

For the Panna Cotta:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the milk and cream.
2. Sprinkle gelatine and sugar over combined milk and cream. Stir over low heat, without boiling, until gelatine and sugar are completely dissolved.
3. Add vanilla extract.
4. Pour warm mixture through a sieve, into a into medium-sized jug and allow cool to room temperature.
5. Once cooled, gently pour cooled panna cotta into prepared moulds. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours, or overnight.
6. Once set, turn Panna Cotta onto serving plates. Serve with Bitter Gooseberry and Honey Coulis