Chocolate Panna Cotta with Caramelized Pineapple and Amarena Cherries

We’re having a few wonderful late summer days here at the moment. It’s been a real pleasure to tank up on a bit of warm sunshine. I hope that winter this year is also slightly warmer. I am dreading the cold!

I know many of you are waiting for my creation for the current Monthly Mingle: Chocolate & Fruit, but I hope you understand I had to take some extra space yesterday to announce the La Cucina Italiana contest. It’s a fantastic opportunity to win yourself a free subscription to this gorgeous magazine, so I do hope you will join us!

As if by coincidence my dessert today has been inspired by the great Italian dessert - the Panna Cotta. My variation of this extremely elegant dessert is by no means an authentic version of the panna cotta. Contraire – it’s rather exotic with the sweet caramelized baby pineapple and the Amarena cherries. The added delicacy of chocolate makes it lavishly decadent. A panna cotta it is though.

I will allow you to enjoy this dessert to the fullest now, as I stretch out on my deck chair and enjoy the last of these chocolate fruity delights.

Ciao!

Ingredients
Printable version of recipe here.

For the chocolate panna cotta

400 ml heavy cream
90g fine sugar
30g cocoa powder
4 sheets gelatine
1 vanilla bean, scraped
50 ml milk
50 ml chocolate syrup, I used Swiss Chocolate from Monin
100g Mascarpone cheese

For the caramelized pineapple

1 baby pineapple, peeled and cut into wedges
50 g sugar
150 ml - 200 ml pineapple juice
8-10 Amarena cherries
2 tablespoons syrup reserved from the Amarena cherries

Method

For the chocolate panna cotta

Soak the gelatine in cold water for approx 5 minutes. In a saucepan bring the cream, sugar, vanilla pod and the scraped seeds to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and allow for the cream to steep for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, whisk the milk, cocoa powder and chocolate syrup to a smooth mixture. Remove the vanilla pod from the cream and discard. Bring the cream mixture to a boil once again and gently whisk in the cocoa mixture. Remove from heat.

Squeeze water from gelatine and dissolve into the chocolate-cream mixture. Allow to cool at room temperature, then place in the refrigerator until the mixture starts to thicken. Add the mascarpone cheese and whisk until smooth and there are no lumps.

Fill the mixture into 4 forms (each about 150 ml) and refrigerate overnight.

For the caramelized pineapple

On medium heat allow the sugar to dissolve and caramelize to a light golden color. Pour in the pineapple juice. The sugar will solidify but keep the mixture at medium heat and gently bring it back to a boil. The sugar will begin to dissolve. Allow the mixture to simmer and reduce into a thick syrup - approx 10 minutes.

Add the pineapple chunks, Amarena cherries and syrup and cook for approx. 5 minutes until softened. Cool to room temperature.

Tip the panna cotta onto plates and serve with the caramelized fruit or if you prefer just spoon some of fruit over the panna cotta in the glasses or forms.

 

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Verdict

Making them in small glasses was maybe a mistake! LOL! I thought it would be a nice touch to a heavy meal we had. But apparently my guests could not get enough of this and for the first time in my cooking history I did not have enough!! Embarrassing? No – I just invited them over again – this time a light meal and a big portion of this chocolate panna cotta. It was rich, smooth and delicately fruity. Something one can indulge in over and over again.

You might like these Panna Cotta varieties from WFLH too:

	Panna Cotta with Blackberries
	Panna Cotta with Saffron and Cardamom
	Strawberry Panna Cotta with Balsamic Red Wine Syrup

From around the blogs:

• Mango Coconut Panna Cotta by Live to Eat
• Yogurt Panna Cotta - by Baking bites
• Pistachio Panna Cotta by Rice & Noodles

 

Daily Tiffin Reading Tip:

•  Cookbooks For Kids by Lydia

 

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