Ingredients:

Citrus Panna Cotta

• 1000ml Half and Half
• 100g Sugar
• 50ml Honey
• 1 Lemon (Zest finely grated and juiced)
• 2 Limes (Zest finely grated and juiced)
• 15g Gelatin Powder
• ½tsp Salt

Strawberry Sauce

• 250g Strawberries (trimmed, cleaned and sliced)
• 60g Brown Sugar
• 1 Lemon (Zest finely grated and juiced)
• ¼tsp Salt

Fresh Strawberry Garnish

• 250g Fresh Strawberries (trimmed, cleaned and cut in half)
• 1tbsp Sugar
• 1tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice

Instructions

Citrus Panna Cotta

 

1. Add a splash of water to the powdered gelatin to re-hydrate it and allow it to bloom.
2. Place the sugar , honey and half and half into a pan and heat over medium high heat until it reaches a simmer.
3. Add your gelatin mix, lemon and lime juice and whisk till fully incorporated.
4. Pass the panna cotta mixture through a strainer and add your lemon and lime zest before pouring into a large bowl, container or mold and refrigerate for 4-6hrs or preferably over night till set and firm.
5. Unmold the panna cotta by running a thin sharp knife around the end and dip the bowl or container in boiling hot water for 10-15secs to loosen the sides.  Carefully invert the panna cotta onto a plate or dish.

Strawberry Sauce

1. Place your strawberries, sugar, salt and lemon juice into a pan and cook over medium low heat until the mixture comes to a simmer and the strawberries have broken down.
2. Place the strawberry mixture along with the lemon zest into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth and velvety.
3. Pass through a sift to remove the seeds and pips and chill before serving.

Fresh Strawberry Garnish

1. Place the halved strawberries into a bowl and add your sugar and lemon juice.  Toss and evenly coat the strawberries and allow it to sit and macerate for at least 45mins.

Assembly

1. Unmold your panna cotta onto a plate or dish, pour your strawberry sauce around the panna cotta and garnish with your macerated strawberry halves.

Notes:

• This recipe is similar to the Japanese Pudding recipe I posted earlier, but this one uses no eggs.  Instead, this is just pure cream, sugar and gelatin. Hence the need for additional gelatin to act as a stabilizer as this recipe lacks the protein within the eggs to help firm and stabilize the mix. 
• A rough guide to using gelatin is approximately 1g of gelatin per 100ml of liquid.  However due to the lemon and lime juice acting as a destabilizing agent (acid), more gelatin is added to the recipe to compensate and prevent the panna cotta from collapsing.
• Before making the strawberry sauce, it’s important to try a few of the strawberries  to determine the level of ripeness/sweetness they have.  If their very sweet and aromatic, you should reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe.  If their bland and not very fragrant, add a little more sugar to compensate.   
• You can substitute raspberries instead of strawberries when making the sauce.
• Macerating the halved strawberries with sugar and lemon juice, helps to draw out the natural juices of the strawberries.  The juices will than mix in with the sugar and lemon juice, producing a natural and delicious glaze for the strawberries.
• This recipe works best during the summer when fresh fruits such as berries are in season, ripe and full of flavour.  If you’re recreating this recipe during the fall or winter and fresh good quality berries are unavailable, frozen fruit is a acceptable and more preferable substitute over their bland counterparts.
• It’s preferable if you pick and choose whatever fresh fruit is available and good quality over following the recipe to the letter.  For example, if the strawberries available in your local supermarket are only mediocre but raspberries and blackberries look good.  Than substitute them and use the raspberries for the sauce and the blackberries for garnish instead of strawberries.