Desserts and Sweets

Coffee panna cotta

Makes 4-5 glasses

Ingredients
500ml whipping cream
10g instant coffee granules
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (preferably unwaxed)
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped
50g sugar
4-5g gelatine leaves
Good-quality dark chocolate shavings, to decorate
Tuile-style, ladyfinger or savoiardi biscuits to serve

Method
1. Place 400ml of the cream, the coffee blended into a very small amount of water, the lemon zest and the vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan over a low heat.

2. Once the cream is warm, add the sugar. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water until softened and pliable, about 3-4 min. Squeeze the extra water from the gelatine, then add the leaves to the hot cream. Whisk to avoid lumps forming. Bring the mixture to the boil, continuing to stir.

3. Take the pan off the heat, remove the vanilla pod, and let the mixture cool down until just warm, stirring regularly. Pour the cream into serving glasses and let it cool to room temperature. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 2 hours for the cream to set before serving.

4. Decorate with shavings of chocolate and serve chilled with a few biscuits.