Alleluia! Finally,
I did it!!! After five attempts (yes, you read correctly – five!), I finally
made the Coconut and cardamom pannacotta
recipe properly! I admit that since the phone call came from Rachel, this
was actually the third day since then that I had attempted the recipe. After Overall
Try No.3 though, I knew that I was getting closer each time to finally making
it a success. So, here’s exactly what happened this time round…
This time,
I started off with the gelatine which was a major problem for me on all the
previous four attempts. I used the leaf gelatine from M&S and followed the
instructions on it exactly. It said to place the leaves in a bowl so I used a wide, narrow bowl
and then covered it with 45ml of water. I then let it sit for 10 minutes before placing
the bowl in a frying pan of simmering water. The gelatine melted and I gave it a wee stir
with a fork just to be sure. Meanwhile, I got on with grinding cardamom
seeds using a pestle and mortar and then added them to a saucepan of cream and
sugar. I brought the mixture up to the boil and stirred it constantly until all
the sugar melted. I then set it aside to infuse. By the time the gelatine was
ready, I put the creamy mixture back on to heat through and then added most of
the gelatine to the creamy mix. I gave it a whisk with an electric mix also. In
another bowl, I poured in a can of coconut milk and gave it a light whisk in
case there were any lumps. I actually removed 45ml of the coconut milk to make
up for the water that I added to the gelatine leaves as per the instructions on
the pack. I then added the coconut milk into the cream and gelatine mixture and
gave it a brisk whisk before dividing it into four glasses.
Three and
a half hours later, I was making a cup of tea and happened to check to see if
the glasses had set. Miraculously, they had!!! Dear Mother and Dear Father had
called to see the kids as they usually do on a Sunday evening so I had three
perfect guinea pigs to test the recipe. So, I sliced some mango and set it on
top of the pannacotta only, this time, I thankfully didn’t have to stack it up
from the bottom of the glass as the mixture could actually take the weight of
the fruit.
The
verdict…
Dear
Mother and Dear Father both loved the pannacotta – 10 marks out of 10! They
said it was absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, after all my efforts, this
dessert wasn’t something that Dear Husband liked too much and, therefore, only
gave it 3 marks out of 10. To be honest, I was glad that my parents had called
by and liked it; otherwise, I’d have been majorly disappointed so at least
their verdicts was vindication that (1) I’d made the recipe correctly and (2)
it was actually an excellent recipe.
In my five attempts, I came a long
way in terms of my ability to make this recipe. I definitely felt the most
confident this time round as I got a feel for the recipe and Rachel’s advice
made such a difference. Overall, I can most definitely say that, based on my
own personal experience, I definitely did not find this recipe easy as I made
such a mess of it on four previous occasions. However, I came through in the
end but I just won’t have this recipe on my list if I’m ever having a dinner
party; at least I won’t have pannacotta as the only dessert. I’m definitely not at the stage where I think I could
perfect this recipe every time but it would be a great recipe to have seeing
that it can be prepared in advance. At last, something that did go right
for me this weekend!
On another note, a very interesting development in the other All-Ireland semi-final today. I was actually hoping Dublin would win - just so that we could beat them on the 23rd. I only picked up the game for the second half but, to be honest, I'd have felt bad for Mayo if they'd lost after the advantage they had. So, it's a big Donegal versus Mayo final but I still reckon that Sam is headed for the hills! And, just in case, any of you happen to come into the good fortune of having All-Ireland tickets but are unable to go, I am one very keen Donegal girl who is on the lookout and, of course, will pay you for them! The scramble for tickets in this part of the world has gone a bit crazy. Here's hoping though that I get some...
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