panna cotta

Panna cotta is your friend. It tastes great, looks impressive, is embarrasingly easy to make, can be made in advance, is dead cheap, and is extremely versatile in the flavours that you can use.
Panna cotta can be thought of as a neutral base, to which you can add your choice of flavours. Spices are particularly good for this. The name (and dish) is Italian, meaning cooked cream. They are essentially flavoured cream, gently set with gelatine, making a soft sweet, just holding its shape on the plate.

• Vanilla
  The classic. Infuse a pod in the mix, and scrape the seeds in as well. These are speckled through the finished dessert. Good with fresh berries or maybe something like stewed apricots that would otherwise like a custard or creme anglaise.
• Cinnamon
  Take maybe half a stick of cinnamon to infuse this time. A good rich flavour. Cinnamon with apple is a great classic combination. How about a caramelised apple compôte? Sounds good?
• Star anise
  A taste of decadence! We could try a poached pear with this, with a good rich red wine reduction around the edge.
• Rosemary
  That's an odd one! Take a sprig of rosemary this time. Be careful not to overdo it, or it'll taste of Radox. This goes really well with fresh strawberries, believe it or not.
• Citrus Zest
Grate, or use a zester to remove the outer peel of your favourite citrus fruits. Maybe add a little of the juice to the mix too, cutting the milk down accordingly. Try with some kind of wafer or crisp biscuit. Maybe get some ginger involved.

These are just a few suggestions. Use your imagination! Have fun. I'm getting loads of ideas just writing this. How about some honey in there? Or saffron. Or both! That ginger sounded nice too. Keep experimenting! They're cheap as chips to make, so it doesn't matter too much if you get a couple of duds. Once you've started playing with ideas, you're bound to invent some classics of your own.

Ingredients

• 1 pint/ 600ml double/heavy cream
• 1/2 pint/ 300ml milk
• 3 leaves gelatine
• Flavourings or aromatics (see above)
• Caster sugar, to taste

Method

Gently warm the milk and cream with the flavourings, allowing time to infuse. Check the strength of flavour. Meanwhile, soften the gelatine in cold water. Sweeten the cream to taste. Remember, it shouldn't be actually "sweet", just take the edge off the taste.
Dissolve the softened sheets of gelatine in the warmed milk/cream. Strain into a jug, and pour into dariole moulds. In the absence of these moulds, which are very useful for lots of individual puddings, use any other small moulds. Ramekins or even teacups would work, although the tall shape of a dariole looks great when the panna cotta is unmoulded, as it settles under its own weight, bulging slightly. This'll make about 6.
Chill for several hours or overnight, to set. When ready to serve, run a small knife around the inside edge of the mould. This is easier if you are using the straight-sided dariole. With a careful tap, turn the panna cotta out onto a plate. Watch it wobble! Add whatever accompaniments you are using and serve immediately.