PANNA COTTA AGLI ALBUMI D'UOVO

Today, a dessert with flavors of Italy, a panna cotta with an apricot sauce and amaretti biscuits.

makes 4 servings,

Amaretti :

- 90 gr ground almond (roasted preferably)

- 75 gr sugar

- 1 egg-white

- 1/2 tsp almond extract (optional)

- powdered sugar 

In my opinion it's preferable to prepare the amaretti the day before.

Prepare a meringue : beat the egg white until it starts to form peaks then add the sugar in 2 or 3 times beating all the time until smooth.

Then, fold delicately the ground almonds and almond extract into the meringue.

Now, with the help of a teaspoon (or your fingers) shape small balls of dough and roll them into powdered sugar.

Arrange them on an oven tray covered with parchment paper (space them out because they are going to grow a bit). You can even pinch the dough with the fingers as they do traditionally.

Put in a preheated oven (low to medium heat) for 10~12 minutes or until they are golden brown. Leave to cool and reserve in a hermetic box.

Panna Cotta :

- 35 cl cream 

- 3 egg-whites

- 50 gr sugar

- 1 vanilla bean (or half a packet of vanilla sugar)

Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape off the seeds. Then put the pod and seeds in a sauce pan with the cream and the sugar. Bring it to a boil then remove from the heat immediately and let stand to infuse and also to cool down for about 30 minutes.

Beat lightly the egg-whites (just to "break" them) and mix them with the cream previously sifted. Do not whip.

Grease generously the ramekins with butter and pour in the cream mixture.

Bake in a water-bath (the water already hot) and in a preheated oven (low heat) for 35~40 minutes. They still should tremble a bit when done, they will thicken with the cold of the fridge. So, allow to cool for a while and reserve in the fridge at least 2 hours.

Now I have to say something : panna cotta made with gelatin really sucks compare to this one ! Panna cotta with egg-whites is absolutely divine ! The texture is completely different, really smooth, it melts in the mouth, not gelatinous at all. Pure silk !

Apricot sauce :

- 250 gr apricot (peeled and without the pit)

- 25 gr sugar

- 6 cl water 

- 1 tbsp lemon juice 

Peel and remove the pit of the apricots. Cut them roughly.

Gather the water and the sugar in a sauce pan, bring to a boil and add the fruits and the lemon juice. Cook covered for 10 minutes over gentle heat.

Drain the apricots (and keep the syrup apart) then mix them in a blender, leave  to cool and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When cold check out the texture, if it's to thick add some of the remaining syrup (also reserved in the fridge).

At serving time, unmold each panna cotta from the ramekins (run a thin knife around the edge of the ramekins to help it).
Serve the panna cotta with the chilled apricot sauce, some slices of apricot and 1 or 2 amaretti.

we can see the vanilla seeds on the top, not really good looking but at least it's proof of the use of real vanilla ;)

Enjoy!