Eatdrink #44 November/December 2013

№ 44 | November/December 2013 www.eatdrink.ca 61
Caffè Latte Panna Cotta with Decadent Chocolate Cookies
If you don’t have a hand blender or frother
to make the froth, you could easily just whip
some cream for the topping. The number
of servings will depend on the size of your
coffee cups. Have any leftovers for breakfast
the next morning and the caffeine will perk
you right up.
Serves 4 to 8
pAnna Cotta
1 cup cold strong coffee
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp gelatine
½ tsp kosher salt
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Froth
¼ cup whole milk
½ tsp gelatine
½ tsp granulated sugar
Combine coffee, sugar, gelatine and
salt in a medium pot. Bring to a simmer,
stirring constantly. Add milk, cream and vanilla
and continue to stir until mixture is warm. Cool
slightly, stirring occasionally to make sure gelatine
is well distributed. Pour into espresso or coffee
cups. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until set.
Heat milk for froth with gelatine and sugar in
a small pot over low heat until gelatine has
dissolved. Pour into a small bowl, cover and
refrigerate until it just begins to set.
Froth mixture with a hand blender until frothy.
Spoon froth on top of panna cottas. Sprinkle with
shaved chocolate if desired. Chill until needed, and
serve with Decadent Chocolate Cookies.
DeCADent ChOCOLAte Cookies
These soft, ultra-chocolaty bites complement the
taste of the panna cotta. Use very dark chocolate (70%
cocoa) for the biggest flavour hit. These can also be
made as larger cookies using a heaped table- spoon
of dough, which will yield 20 cookies. Bake them for 12
minutes. Large or small, they keep well.
Makes 70 small cookies
½ cup butter
4 oz (115 g) dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
70 small (or 12 medium) squares chocolate
Icing sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with
parchment paper.
Melt butter and dark chocolate in a medium, heavy
pot over low heat. Stir until smooth. Remove from
heat and cool slightly.
Stir together eggs, sugar and vanilla. Blend into
melted chocolate mixture. In a separate bowl, sift
together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and
salt. Fold into chocolate mixture.
Place heaped teaspoons of dough on prepared
cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. Press into rounds
with the back of a spoon. Cookies should be about ½
inch thick. Top each one with a square of chocolate.
Bake for 7 minutes or until the inside is still soft. Cool
on racks. The cookies harden a little as they cool.
Sprinkle with icing sugar.
PAIrinG: Recioto
I love the name recioto. It comes from recie,
Venetian dialect for “ears,” a reference to the
tendency of certain grape clusters to form two
little lobes that dangle from the main bunch. The
exposed lobes receive the most sunlight, yielding
super-ripe grapes that for centuries have been used
to produce a sweet wine in the Veneto region of
Italy, the precursor to a now more famous dry red
called Amarone. Recioto today is more typically
made using the whole cluster, left on mats after
harvest to dry and concentrate sugars. If left to
ferment to complete dryness, the wine becomes
Amarone, but when fermentation is halted part
way, it becomes recioto. Alternatives: California
black muscat or espresso coffee.