Espresso Panna Cotta

Tuesday night of this week was our Pot Luck dinner at Janet's house. We are a bunch of retired and almost retired teachers that love to get together over good food,and just catch up on news. In this case how our summer was spent. Unfortunately a valued friend was missing from our group..not feeling well and in much need of a deserved rest. Get well Jan we missed you and hope to see you soon.


Another, unfortunate incident was that I didn't bring my camera, as Janet had made this wonderful chicken and pineapple casserole and not only did it look good but more importantly it tasted great!(Should have taken pictures and included it in this blog.) I said that I would bring the dessert but it had turned into one of those days when everything that could go wrong ...did!!! I made the panna cotta in the afternoon thinking I would have enough time for it to set firmly before adding the espresso layer, the bottom line was that I should have started things earlier or just added a fruit layer, that didn't need to set. In hindsight, a fruit layer would have been a better idea, as most of us don't like to drink coffee late in the evening. What can I say we are getting older!


To make a long story short, the panna cotta did eventually set, not as firmly as I would have liked, but six desserts carefully went into a shoebox, so that I could put them on the floor of the car and not worry about them as I was driving to Janet's house. WRONG... as I turned the corner at the end of the road , one panna cotta toppled over hit the next one which in turn fell over and then the next 2 just followed domino style. Two did survive, and the 4 of us truly enjoyed eating them. Thank goodness for the bakery section at the grocery store, I did stop and buy a cake, but it turned out to be unnecessary and was taken to Chelsea Elementary for the staff to enjoy. ( Everybody deserves a sweet treat).



May I suggest that you prepare them early in the morning if you are planning to serve them in the evening. They truly are a simple preparation and they make a light delicious dessert that can be eaten any time of the day.

ESPRESSO PANNA COTTA

1 C heavy cream

1 C whole milk

1/4 C sugar

1/2 envelope powdered gelatin

1 tsp vanilla

ESPRESSO JELLO

4 tsp. instant espresso powder

1/2 envelope powdered gelatin

10 oz water

2 oz. brown sugar

For the panna cotta. sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of milk in a pan until dissolved. Add sugar and remaining milk until all is dissolved, but do not boil. Remove from heat and stir in the cream and vanilla. Pour into glasses and let set in refrigerator.

For the espresso jello,Heat water to a boil. Remove from heat and sprinkle gelatin over water. Stir until dissolved. Add espresso and brown sugar. Stir until dissolved and let cool. Pour over SET panna cotta and refrigerate until jello layer is set.

( recipe from jenyu.net)