Panna cotta with rhubarb recipe

This recipe is one of my favourites. Rich and creamy yet with a lightness to it that is unexpected. The perfect wobble is necessary and the vanilla seeds against the white of the background is so pretty. The panna cotta is so delicious, cool and soft that I think the sweet, sharp orangey rhubarb is the perfect accompaniment.

Rhubarb and ginger are a wonderful pairing and fairings sandwiched together with ice cream made with Rodda’s clotted cream has all the nostalgia and magic of time spent in Cornwall. This pudding would work also with strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, and plums.

Spiced ginger biscuit with a moreish crunch. Cornish fairings, a holiday in Cornwall would not be the same without them.

Spiced crunchy biscuits, I have added desiccated coconut to mine which gives a little more texture to the biscuit. Eaten straight from the oven they are chewy and if you allow them to cool, perfect for dunking in a strong cup of tea or sandwiched with ice cream for all the nostalgia.

Ingredients—rhubarb compote

1kg rhubarb

zest and juice of 2 oranges

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways

125g caster sugar

Ingredients—panna cotta

Serves 8

700g Rodda’s Cornish clotted cream

250ml Rodda’s Cornish milk

1 vanilla pod (bean), split

2 1⁄2 sheets of gelatine, soaked

150g icing sugar, sifted

Ingredients—Cornish fairing

Serves 20

60g Rodda’s Cornish butter, softened

125g plain flour

50g desiccated (dried shredded) coconut, plus extra for dusting

2 level teaspoons baking powder

1 + 3/4 level teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1 tablespoon ground ginger

60g caster sugar

75g golden syrup

Ingredients—Rodda’s clotted cream ice cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk

600g Rodda’s clotted cream

1 vanilla pod, scrape vanilla from the pod

Method—rhubarb compote

Preheat the oven to 120°C (100°Cfan/225°F)

1) Wash the rhubarb and cut into uniformly sized pieces and arrange in a baking dish. Sprinkle the orange zest and juice, the vanilla pod and the sugar over the rhubarb.

2) Gently cook in the oven for 45 minutes until the rhubarb is tender but still holding its shape. Allow to cool before serving. This compote will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer.

Method—panna cotta

1) Immerse the gelatine in a small bowl of cold water and leave to soak. For the panna cotta, add half of the Rodda’s clotted cream, all of the milk and the split vanilla pod into a heavy-based pan and slowly bring to just under a simmer.

2) Do not boil the water, just warm enough to allow the gelatine to dissolve in the Rodda’s clotted cream (if you heat the clotted cream too much it will separate when setting). Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

3) In a separate bowl, combine the remaining Rodda’s clotted cream with the icing sugar. Return the infused clotted cream mixture to the heat to warm through. Remove the gelatine from the water, squeezing out any excess liquid, then add to the warmed clotted cream and stir to dissolve.

4) Pour the infused mixture through a fine sieve onto the cold clotted cream and icing sugar and stir well. Pour into small espresso mugs, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight. To serve, top with the rhubarb compote, an extra spoonful of Rodda’s clotted cream and eat with the Cornish fairings sandwiched with the clotted cream ice cream.

Note: Another variation is to pour the panna cotta mixture into a cooked sweet pastry case, allow to set and then arrange the rhubarb on top. The light, biscuity pastry against the creamy cooked vanilla is glorious.

Method—Cornish Fairings

Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan/300°F)

1) Add the softened Rodda’s Cornish butter to a mixing bowl, then add all the dry ingredients except the sugar and mix together. Stir in the sugar and golden syrup and combine to form a dough. This can be frozen at the stage, for another day.

2) Roll pieces of the mixture into 16g balls (about the size of a large grape) and place on a baking sheet. Gently press your thumb in the middle of each ball of dough. Make sure they are spaced well apart as they will spread out during cooking. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

3) For the ice cream sandwiches allow the ice cream to soften ever so slightly, place a spoonful in the middle of a biscuit and then place another biscuit on top, gently squeeze together and smooth around the sides. Repeat with other biscuits. Place back in the freezer until ready to serve.

Method—Rodda’s clotted cream ice cream

1) Put the condensed milk, Rodda’s clotted cream and vanilla into a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk until thick.

2) Place into a loaf tin, cover with cling film and freeze until frozen. I can never resist giving it a stir every 30 minutes (no ice cream maker required).

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