WHAT ARE THEY?
Dessert glasses of jellied vanilla cream, accompanied by caramelised cubes of pineapple infused with vanilla and tonka beans.
TIME TO MAKE
Preparation: 30–45 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Resting: 2 hours
EQUIPMENT
25 small 60 g dessert glasses with small spoons
Bread knife
Microplane grater
Piston funnel
Strainer
VARIATION
At the end of cooking the pineapples, flambé with 30 g rum in the frying pan.
ADVICE
Only heating some of the cream to dissolve the sugar and gelatine allows the panna cotta to cool faster. That way it stays nice and white, rather than yellowing during cooking.
TIP
When ready to assemble, if the caramelised pineapple mixture is too thick, mix in a little of the syrup.
TECHNIQUE TO MASTER
ORGANISATION
1 day before | Make the panna cottas and refrigerate. Make the pineapples in syrup and refrigerate in their syrup.
On the day | Caramelise the pineapple, then cool and place on the panna cottas. Set aside in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
MAKES 25
1 PANNA COTTA
8 g leaf gelatine
925 g whipping cream (35 per cent fat)
60 g sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 CARAMELISED PINEAPPLE
1 large pineapple
½ tonka bean
300 g water
200 g sugar
½ vanilla bean
1 Peel the pineapple and trim off the ends. Using a bread knife, trim 1 cm off the outside to remove the eyes. Cut the pineapple in half and remove the core.
2 Cut the pineapple flesh in 5 mm cubes.
3 Finely grate the tonka bean using a microplane grater.
4 In a large saucepan, bring the water, sugar, scraped half vanilla bean and grated tonka bean to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the pineapple cubes and cook for 15–20 minutes, until translucent.
5 Remove the vanilla bean, then strain the pineapple, retaining the cooking liquid.
6 To make the panna cottas: soak the gelatine in cold water. Bring 200 g of the cream to the boil in a saucepan with the sugar and scraped vanilla bean. Remove from the heat. Squeeze out the gelatine and stir into the hot cream.
7 Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl. Pour in the hot cream, whisking vigorously, then strain.
8 Add 40 g of the cream mixture to each small dessert glass using a piston funnel, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
9 To caramelise the pineapple cubes, heat a frying pan over a high heat, add the pineapple cubes, brown for 1 minute, then stir to colour the other sides. Add two ladles of reserved cooking liquid and cook until it evaporates. Repeat twice more. The last time, continue reducing until the liquid becomes syrupy. Turn out into a container, allow to cool and refrigerate.
10 Remove the panna cottas and pineapple from the refrigerator, distribute the pineapple and caramelised syrup between the glasses, add a spoon and serve.
