Coconut panna cotta with mango salad

A week or so ago we took the girls to their first ever late movie (way past regular bedtime).  And this was to watch the much acclaimed Life of Pi.  The whole family watched the 2 hour spectacle of amazing film graphics and an absolutely heart warming story.  As summer’s been pretty hot, it was a good weekend option to hit the cinema on a warm night.

As there have been mixed reviews about the movie – some raved how great it is.  While some ranted about the movie missing some of the details and made up with colourful graphics.  I’m on the other camp.  I loved it.  The story, the visual effects, the music background.  The whole lot. It was a superb movie that helped spruce up sales of the book once again.  The book published in 2001 has gathered a good following after its release and has even been awarded the Man  Booker Prize – a prestigious international literary award.  After watching, I now got hold of the book and have been glued.  It is indeed amazing and the memory of Richard Parker makes me smile as if I shared that journey with Pi on that boat. 

Now back to to reality and the monotonous routine of the school holidays.  The girls are kept enticed thanks to technology and TV during the days of the week that I'm working.  On most days, its just the same.  I can't seem to pull them off these supposed distractions and push them outside in the sunshine.  Sometimes I wonder if getting those hours of silence and no-bickering actually good.  Either for them, or for us - the parents.  But then, I try to sit back, sigh and think. Oh well.  It's the school holidays after all.

This dessert was originally made for the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop for this month, but was quickly replaced when I discovered this new cookbook that I'm dying to get my hands on.  The maja ube (purple yam and coconut pudding) proved to be more visually inviting and was tropical in every sense.  But this is a simple and delicious dessert that is also worth the effort, and so here it is.  And while it's still summer, make use of the season's bounty.  Mangoes!  This recipe is adapted, from House (a local retailer of kitchenware, cookware etc) in-house magazine Christmas 2011 edition. 

To make this coconut panna cotta with mango salad:

(Print the recipe here)

Ingredients

300ml coconut cream

300ml single cream

2 gelatin leaves (gold)

120g caster sugar

2 vanilla pods

3 mangoes, diced

zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 lime

mint leaves or toasted coconut (optional for garnish)

Method

In a small bowl, soak the gelatin leaves in cold water to soften.

 In a medium sized pot, combine the coconut cream, cream and caster sugar.

Slice the vanilla pods and scrape the seeds into the pot with the coconut cream mixture.

In medium heat, bring the coconut cream mixture to a boil.  Set aside to slightly cool.

Add the soft gelatin leaves and whisk.

Strain using a fine sieve into a jug.

Pour into prepared glass bowls (we used about 4 small plastic flutes and 3 ice cream bowls).

Let the panna cotta cool in room temperature then place in the fridge to fully set and cool.

Prepare mango salad.  In a small bowl, mix the diced mango with the lime juice and zest.

To serve, top the panna cotta with the mango salad and garnish with mint leaves.

TIPS:

* Do not substitute thick cream/double cream to the single cream.  Single cream is lighter and thinner in consistency and has minimum of 18% milk fat.  Usually used for pouring on desserts. You will have a  heavy panna cotta if you use this.

*Do not add the gelatin leaves to a HOT mixture or the gelatin will simply melt and the panna cotta will not set. 

* You can leave the panna cotta in the fridge overnight if serving the next day.  Place on a tray and cover with cling wrap.