Vanilla Panna Cotta with Dark Chocolate Ganache

As the weather gets hotter, so does the kitchen making oven-free desserts ideal, try this no-fail creamy Panna Cotta with rich dark chocolate ganache! Panna Cotta literally translates to cooked cream in Italian and the recipe is just about as simple as the name.

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Dark Chocolate Ganache

serves 8
Ingredients for Panna Cotta
3 sheets of gelatin
scant 1/2 cup milk or 120 ml
2  cups or 500 ml heavy cream
1/2 cup or 60 g sugar
1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise

Fill a bowl with water, add the gelatin and let is soak. Pour milk into a pan & bring to just below simmering, then remove the pan from the heat. Do NOT let it boil. Drain & squeeze out the gelatin & add it to the milk. Pour the cream into another pan, add the sugar and vanilla bean and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Then remove the pan from the heat, remove the vanilla bean and stir in the milk mixture.

You can put the mixture into any kind of ramekin, mold, cup, you like. Rinse your 'glass' in ice-cold water, shaking out any excess water & fill with the milk mixture. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours until set (at least 3-4 hours). Turn out onto a serving dish & serve with fruit sauce or chocolate sauce.


Ingredients for Chocolate Ganache
4 oz or 100 g dark chocolate 72% or better

3/4 cup or 200 ml heavy cream

In a double boiler melt chocolate bar. Once the chocolate is completely melted, slowly whisk in cream until the desired consistancy is reached.

Drizzle over the top of the panna cotta once on the serving plate.

Lick-Your-Plate-Amazing Tiramisu

This is one recipe worth recreating, a rich & creamy classic, tiramisu!

 I am not a big fan of Tiramisu in the States, it can be a boozy, mushy mess and nothing I would ever want to order.  So when I was given a heaping plate for dessert at a friends house when we first arrived, I was a little nervous about how I was going to finish it all to be polite- well it didn't seem to be a problem at all because it was lick-your-plate amazing! So what's the difference in the dish served at restaurants State-side vs. that of Italy? First off the eggs - this recipe calls for fresh egg yolks not whipped cream or imitation eggs making it much richer and secondly it's all in the lady-fingers! When Jason first asked for a lady-finger recipe to make this dish, our friend Daniella balked - "No, why would you do that? You buy Pavisini."  And she was right! They perfectly hold up after being soaked in coffee & layered with cream.

 Tiramisu literally translates to "pick me up" and it sure does with all the coffee, eggs & sugar. Great for dessert and devilishly delicious for breakfast, what with coffee & eggs, why not?!
 We serve this every Thursday at our Pizza Night Parties and if there is any left-over for breakfast the next morning! (Not to mention it's one of the only dessert I make, so if I can do it - anyone can! 

Tiramisu

Serves 8
(use a 9x6 dish)
 4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
1 1/4 cups or 125 g confectioner's sugar
1 3/4 cups or 325 g mascarpone cheese
box of Pavisini ladyfingers
3/4 cup or 200 ml freshly brewed extra strong coffee or espresso, cooled/room temperature
3 oz. or 100 g dark chocolate, grated
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
 

Make your pot of coffee & let cool. 

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until light, pale & "ribbons." Then mix in the mascarpone.
Stiffly whisk the egg whites in a different grease-free bowl.
Gently fold in the egg whites in thirds to the mascarpone mix.
Make a single layer of ladyfingers on the base of a deep serving dish making sure they fit tightly together on the bottom. Then brush the lady fingers evenly with coffee (don't be shy, a good two passes with the brush should be plenty).
Make a nice even layer of the mascarpone cream/egg mixture and sprinkle/cover with grated chocolate.
Continue making layers until all the ingredients are used (you should have 3 layers), finishing with a layer of mascarpone cream/egg mixture.
Dust with cocoa, wrap with plastic and chill in the fridge for about 3 hours. Enjoy!! 

Recipe Tips: 
1. Make sure your egg whites are stiff enough that you can turn the bowl upside & they don't move!
2. Booze it up - add your favorite Bailey's, Nocino, Kahlua - any coffee complimentary liqueur will go nicely in this, add it into the coffee after cooled.
3. It's all in the ladyfingers- we use  Pavesini - they are hard to find in the States but its worth a try. These ladyfingers give it the perfect texture & really soak up the coffee.

Chocolate Nutella Walnut Cake

If you're a fan of brownies - then this one is for you, big boys & girls! A rich chocolatey Nutella walnut cake that is ridiculously simple to make. (All it's missing is a scoop of vanilla gelato or a handful of fresh strawberries on the side.)

Torta con Nutella e Nocci

Chocolate Nutella & Walnut Cake

4 eggs

125 g / 1/2 cup + 2 T sugar

125 g / 1 cup chopped walnuts

75 g / 4 T Nutella
75 g / 2.5 ounces dark chocolate

125 g / 1/2 cup + 1 T butter

75 g / 1/2 cup + 1 T flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

Beat the eggs with the sugar.  

Melt the butter, chocolate & nutella together.

Combine the chocolate mixture with the eggs & stir in the dry ingredients.

Butter & flour a spring form pan.  Add mixture to pan.

Cook at 350 F / 185 C  for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

( click here for a conversion table.)

Italian Christmas Chocolate & Nut Cake

Snow covered Piobbico

 

Italian Christmas Chocolate Cake
with walnuts, hazelnuts & chestnuts

6 oz unsalted butter
6 oz sugar
325 gr dark chocolate, broken into bits
50 gr walnuts, shelled, halved, toasted & rough chopped (with a good mix of large & small)
50 gr blanched almonds, toasted & rough chopped
75 gr shelled hazelnuts
5 large eggs, separated
150 gr chestnuts, cooked & broken into bits
1 orange rind, grated
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
50 gr ground almonds
powdered (icing) sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Melt butter & sugar in a bowl set over simmering water. Add in chocolate, stirring well.
Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture, then mix in the all the nuts, orange rind & cinnamon. Whisk yolks until stiff, but not dry. FOLD in egg whites to the chocolate mixture. (You don’t want to knock the air out by mixing too hard.)
Pour into a buttered 8in spring form cake pan.
Bake for 45 minutes
Leave the cake in the pan to cool for about 20 minutes. It is a fragile cake, so handle with care.
The top will deflate & crack a little as it cools. Dust with powdered (icing) sugar.