Woodruff panna cotta with raspberry and basil
- Dessert
- Medium
- 4
- 1 hour 30 minutes
PT1H30M
This vibrant recipe makes use of a little-known plant called sweet woodruff, which can be found growing wild in the British countryside. Its mild, sweet and slightly grassy flavour is infused into a panna cotta, which is then topped with a raspberry purée, dots of basil oil, crunchy granola and fresh raspberries. A beautiful dessert that gives you the perfect excuse to seek out this underused ingredient.
Ingredients
Panna cotta
- 500ml of double cream
- 250ml of whole milk
- 75g of caster sugar
- 10g of woodruff
- 2 bronze gelatine leaves
Basil oil
- 100g of basil
- 300ml of rapeseed oil
Raspberry purée and gel
- 150g of caster sugar
- 150ml of water
- 5g of dried mugwort, or basil
- 250g of raspberries
- 4g of agar agar
- 2 tsp citric acid
Granola
- 150g of porridge oats
- 50g of Demerara sugar
- 50g of walnuts
- 50g of rapeseed oil
- 20g of unsalted butter , melted
- 5g of fennel seeds
- 2g of sea salt
To serve
Equipment
- Blender
- Piping bag and nozzle
- Muslin cloth
Method
1
To begin, make the panna cotta. Add the cream, milk, and sugar to a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the woodruff and allow to infuse for a minimum of 3 hours before passing through a sieve
- 500ml of double cream
- 250ml of whole milk
- 75g of caster sugar
- 10g of woodruff
2
Towards the end of the infusing time, soak the gelatine in cold water. Once soft, squeeze out any excess liquid and add to the cream mixture. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat, stirring until the gelatine has dissolved. Divide the mixture between serving bowls and place in the fridge to set for approximately 3-4 hours
- 2 bronze gelatine leaves
3
To prepare the base for the raspberry purée and gel, add the sugar and water to a pan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat, add the mugwort (or basil) then leave to infuse for as long as possible
- 150g of caster sugar
- 150ml of water
- 5g of dried mugwort, or basil
4
For the basil oil, blitz the basil and oil together in a Thermomix at speed 6 set to 70°C for 5 minutes. Strain through muslin and chill in the fridge until needed. If you don't have a Thermomix, you can heat the ingredients in a pan to 70°C then blitz in a regular blender until combined, but the colour may differ
- 100g of basil
- 300ml of rapeseed oil
5
Once the mugwort has infused into the syrup, add the raspberries to a blender and blitz lightly to form a purée. Pass the purée through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and mix with the syrup. Divide the mixture into two batches
- 250g of raspberries
6
To make the gel, add one batch to a saucepan with 4g of agar agar and bring to the boil. Chill the mixture quickly to set, then blitz to make a smooth gel and place in a piping bag. To make the purée, add the citric acid to the remaining batch a little at a time until you're happy with the flavour (you may not need all of it). Set both the purée and the gel aside in the fridge until ready to serve
- 4g of agar agar
- 2 tsp citric acid
7
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
8
To make the granola, combine all the ingredients in a roasting tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through. Allow to cool before serving
- 150g of porridge oats
- 50g of Demerara sugar
- 50g of walnuts
- 50g of rapeseed oil
- 20g of unsalted butter , melted
- 5g of fennel seeds
- 2g of sea salt
9
To serve, pour the raspberry purée over the exposed panna cotta until It is completely covered with a thin layer, about 2mm deep. Pipe 5 dots of the raspberry gel on top of each panna cotta in a crescent shape around one side. Carefully place a raspberry on top of each dot, filling in the gaps tightly with the granola. Top with micro basil and edible flowers to garnish, then drizzle a few drops of basil oil over the purée and serve
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Woodruff panna cotta with raspberry and basil
