When the Daily Meal and Driscoll's asked me to use raspberries in a dish, I couldn't wait to make something yummy. I love fresh berries during the summer - strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I love them all. I know it's not summer yet but it's warm and sunny outside and that's good enough for me!
And did you know that raspberries are good for your heart? That's right, the American Heart Association has certified raspberries as heart healthy because they have the flavonoids quercetin and gallic acid, which aid in the prevention of heart diseases by helping to keep the heart healthy.
Plus a one cup serving of raspberries has only 4 grams of sugar, which makes these little red berries even more scrumptious to eat! And berries make the best kind of desserts during the warmer months with their natural sweetness that comes from being kissed by the sun.
I have to admit, it wasn't that difficult to figure out what I was going to make with raspberries.
You know that feeling...the one when you're in love and you want to spend every waking moment with each other? Yes, that warm and fuzzy all over feeling. Well that's the way I feel about Panna Cotta, my new love!
After my Lemon Panna Cotta a couple days ago, I just couldn't get enough and found myself thinking about it day and night. I was obsessed with it. I knew I had to do something and that's how this Raspberry Lemon Panna Cotta came about.
Raspberry Lemon Panna Cotta
A lightly sweetened, chilled Italian raspberry and lemon treat for summer.
Prep time: 5 minutesCook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon raspberry extract
- 1 package (6 ounces) Driscoll's raspberries, rinsed
- 1 package unflavored powdered gelatin
- 3 Tablespons cold water
- Add raspberries to food processor or blender and puree.
- Place pureed raspberries into a fine strainer, place a clean bowl under strainer, and using a spatula, gently push down on raspberry puree to help remove seeds from raspberries. You should end up with about 3 to 4 Tablespoons of strained raspberry puree. Don't worry if it still has a few seeds. If too many seeds push through, you can always repeat straining process. Set strained raspberry puree aside.
- In a medium saucepan, add heavy cream and half & half with honey. Heat over low to medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until honey is dissolved, about 7 to 10 minutes. You want to warm cream blend, not boil it. You should be able to stick a finger into the cream to test warmth.
- Remove from heat and mix in vanilla, raspberry extract, strained pureed raspberries to cream and honey blend. Cover and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add cold water. Sprinkle powdered gelatin over cold water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes as gelatin blooms.
- Meanwhile, remove serving cups with Lemon Panna cotta from refrigerator and uncover cups/and or bowls. Set aside.
- After gelatin blooms, slowly add in warm raspberry cream blend, stirring to help dissolve all of gelatin. Continue to add in cream mixture and stirring.
- After gelatin is completely dissolved, pour or ladle into prepared cups and/or bowls.
- Place in refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
- If serving in cups/bowls, top with lemon curd, raspberry coulis, and fresh raspberries.
- If unmolding out of cups/bowls, gently run a clean knife around the edges of the Panna Cotta and turn upside down over serving plate. Panna Cotta should slide out. Top same as if serving in cups or bowls with lemon curd, raspberry coulis, and fresh raspberries.
Recipe for Lemon Panna Cotta can be found here. Recipe for Raspberry Coulis below. Recipe for Lemon Curd here.
When making this Raspberry Lemon Panna Cotta, prepare Lemon Panna Cotta as directed, filling serving cups and/or bowls halfway. Place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours to chill before adding Raspberry Panna Cotta. Chill for another 4 hours before serving.
Raspberry Coulis
A quick and easy way to make Raspberry Coulis, a sweetened raspberry sauce used for decoration of desserts.
Prep time: 5 minutesCook time: 25 seconds
Total time: 6 minutes
Yield: 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons
Ingredients
- 3 ounces fresh raspberries, rinsed
- 1 teaspoon honey
- Using a food processor, puree raspberries.
- Place pureed raspberries into a fine strainer. Place a clean, small bowl under the strainer. Using a spatula or back of a wooden spoon, gently press down on raspberry puree and push through the strainer. Repeat process until seeds have been removed from raspberries. Its ok if a few seeds are still in the strained raspberry puree. You will have to use a clean spoon to scrape the strained raspberries off of the bottom of the strainer. You should end up with about 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of strained raspberries.
- Add honey to strained, pureed raspberries and mix together.
- Place bowl in microwave for 10 seconds on High setting. After 10 seconds, remove bowl and stir.
- Place bowl back into microwave and cook for another 10 to 15 seconds. Watch carefully as you do not want raspberries to boil or overcook. You just want to heat up. Remove from microwave and stir together.
- Let cool to room temperature and then place bowl into refrigerator for at least 15 to 30 minutes before using.
Disclaimer ~ I am not employed by Driscoll's and was not paid nor compensated for this post. All ideas and opinions are my own.
