Matcha Panna Cotta with Queen’s Jel-It-In

I hope you all have had an enjoyable Easter break!

After all the chocolate madness over Easter, I was looking to make a more healthier dessert using some leftover matcha powder when Beyond the Square Communications approached me to try samples of Queen Fine Foods Jel-It-In.

Finally now I'm able to bring pannacotta's and jellies to share with my Muslim, vegan and vegetarian friends! Jel-It-In is a plant based alternative to gelatine, made from extracts of seaweed and seeds from the carob tree, think similar to agar-agar. Even if you're not vegetarian, Jel-It-In is a healthier alternative to gelatine which is made from the by products of animals (I always thought it was pork fat but it could also include skin, horn, hoof, bones – you name it!).

Matcha Panna Cotta

Matcha Panna Cotta tweaked for Jel-It-In gelling powder.

1 tbs Matcha powder

2 tbs sugar

1 tbs water

2 packets Jel-It-In gelling powder

5 tbs water

400ml milk

80g sugar

1. Mix the matcha powder and 2 tbs sugar with 1 tbs hot water to create a matcha sauce.

2. Dissolve 2 sachets of Jel-It-In in the remaining 5 tbs water.

3. Dissolve 80g sugar in the milk, half of the matcha sauce (step 1) and add the dissolved Jel-It-In (step 2) and bring the mixture to boil.

4. Once boiling point is reached, pour the mixture into the mould and leave it in the fridge to set.

5. Pour the remaining rest of the matcha sauce to serve.

I found it easy to use, clear and unflavoured. It was very fast-acting, as my panna cotta started to firm up while at room temperature soon after I poured it into the mould. I'm not sure whether it was the Jel-It-In but the panna cotta slid easily out of the mould when serving and held the shape of the mould very well when served – almost too well.

All in all I found it a great alternative to gelatine, though I will need to tweak my recipes used for gelatine as I found it set too fast and too hard compared to gelatine. I am especially excited to be able to share desserts with my Muslim and vegetarian friends as they only usually eat agar agar jellies and now they can have the taste that is seriously divine panna cotta desserts!

Deco-Roll Caking and a Happy Mother’s Day to all

Hope you all had a wonderful day with your mother! I couldn’t get up early to do the whole breakfast in bed, but I did do a whole lot of housework today and baked a special deco-roll cake for my mummy dearest 🙂

Happy Mother’s Day!  xx

 

I decided to give it a go after I saw some recipes in Japanese magazines, and after I had picked up a ‘Let’s make Deco-Roll’ book whilst in Japan. It’s quite a simple recipe and the sponge you make is shop worthy good – it’s dense but fluffy and light! It’s also really fun to decorate and customise your cake however you want 😉

A few people asked for me to post the recipe of the Love Heart Deco-Roll cake I made last week… so here it is!

To start off with make a mixture with three egg yolks, 35g sugar, 60ml water and 40ml oil. Sift 80g flour through and mix thoroughly. We shall call this Mixture 1 which is now complete!
We’ll also need two batches of meringue. Make one bowl of meringue using three egg whites (Mixture 2) and another bowl of meringue using one egg white (Mixture 3) – don’t forget to add a pinch of corn starch which will make the meringue last that little bit longer 😉

For your patterns you’ll need different colours right? For each colour, take a small amount of Mixture 1 (3tsp), add 1/4tsp flour and any colouring then mix away until you reach your desired colour. If you didn’t want to use colouring, try using natural products like maccha with a little bit of water to make a green mixture.
Once you have your desired colour you’ll need to add a tablespoon of meringue Mixture 3 – make sure when mixing to get rid of any air bubbles which will cause craters to form. Once it is well mixed, go nuts drawing your pattern on a sheet of baking paper either with piping bags or spoons (I used spoons to draw my hearts but piping bags for the flowers). Once your pattern is done, bake it at 170degrees for ONE minute until the pattern is slightly puffy – remember we’ll be baking this again so you don’t want to overcook it.
To finish the sponge cake add meringue Mixture 2 to what is leftover from mixture 1 and mix well. Once it is combined pour it over your pattern and bake for 14 minutes until golden.

You’ll then need to start placing the filling. First cut 6 slits on the back of the cake and brush sugar syrup all over the cake.
Slather on some freshly whipped cream, arrange your fruits in a line and you’re ready to carefully roll the cake. You can use whatever fruit you fancy or none at all! I also added a wee bit of Grand Marnier too 😉
Once you’ve rolled the cake refrigerate it overnight if you can resist temptation or a few hours if you’re like me and couldn’t wait to eat it – it’ll help the shape form.
And that’s it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Ta daaa!
  
 

In other news, Bill and my lovely BFF have gifted me with a 9week French Pastry cooking course with the BFF!  It officially starts this week – how exciting!! Love them to bits.