Vanilla Panna Cotta Dessert Recipe

Have you ever seen such a pretty dessert. Sitting inside it’s very own ice droplet is a vanilla bean panna cotta, diced compressed pineapple, mango lime sphere, isomalt sugar garnish.

Thanks to the support of YouTube and Screen Australia I had the opportunity to work with a team on this video. Normally I film, produce, photograph and edit everything myself. But for this video there was a producer and 2 camera men. I chose to fly to Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to introduce you to Mike Belcher an amazing chef whose desserts I admire.

Ice Sculpture

Fill balloon to desired size, release air bubble from the top, tie and hang in freezer with a plate underneath. Wait until a shell is frozen. Use a blow torch in the centre of the ice sculpture to make a hole. Then release the water and continue to use the blow torch to make the hole bigger.
Return it to the freezer until its time to serve.

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
300millilitres (10.14 fluid ounces) or 1 cup plus 3 Tbsp and 1 tsp Milk 4% fat
300g (10.58 ounces) or 1 1/4 cup Cream 35% fat
1 Vanilla bean (or vanilla extract if you can’t get vanilla bean)
60g (2.12 ounces) or 1/4 cup plus 1 tsp Sugar
6g (0.21 ounces) or 3 leaves gold strength leaf gelatin OR 6g (0.21 ounces) or 1 3/4 tsp powdered gelatine softened with 50millilitres (1.69 fluid ounces) or 1/4 cup of the milk

Hydrate the gelatine leaves in cold water for 10 minutes until fully softened.
Bring milk, sugar and vanilla to a simmer, remove from the heat and add the squeezed gelatine.
Leave for the flavor to infuse for 20 minutes, drain the vanilla bean and add the cream. If you want the vanilla seeds to be evenly dispersed chill until just starting to thicken and then pour into glasses. If using extract you can pour into glasses immediately.

Compressed Pineapple
200g (7.05 ounces) Super sweet tinned pineapple, finely diced
1 star anise
vanilla bean left over from panna cotta
sugar to taste
heatproof food safe plastic bag

Place all ingredients into a vac pac bag (or watertight plastic bag) and fully compress.
Heat for 30 minutes in a water bath of 60C (140 degrees Fahrenheit).

Mango lime sphere
400g (14.11 ounces) tinned Mango, pureed
50millilitres (1.69 fluid ounces) or 3 Tbsp and 1 tsp Lime juice
60g (2.12 ounces) or 1/4 cup plus 1 tsp Sugar
6g (0.21 ounces) Calcium lactate gluconate (you can get a kit that has the alginate and calcium salts here).

Sodium alginate bath:
1Litre Distilled water
5g (0.18 ounces) Sodium alginate

Combine mango and lime together, then add the combined sugar and calcium lactate gluconate. Pour into hemisphere molds and freeze until solid.

Make your sodium alginate bath and drop in the frozen spheres. Keep the spheres moving making sure they do not touch. After 3 minutes remove the spheres and drop them into cold water to stop the setting process.

Isomalt garnish

100g (3.53 ounces) Isomalt (available here)
Cookie cutter slightly larger than the glass the Panacotta is in
2 silpat baking mats

Heat in the oven for 3 minutes at 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit)

Optional garnish with micro herbs, lemon balm and micro mint, gold leaf and edible flowers.
Make sure the gold leaf you buy is edible like this one not one that says it is for craft.

Resource: howtocookthat.net