With Mother’s Day around the corner it’s time to break out the spring china, polish the silver, and prep for Mother’s Day! For us, that means our annual Mother’s Day brunch, which will be full of elegant small dishes made with ingredients from the garden. These lavender panna cotta cups with ice wine jelly and edible flowers will be front and center, and they are sure to delight any mom.
Panna cotta is one of my mom, Sandi’s favorite desserts. Hailing from Italy, it is a cooked cream dish that is incredibly simple and absolutely divine. For a long time, I thought panna cotta was a complex and intimidating dish. I saved it for going out to restaurants and letting the professionals take care of it. But, once I decided to try it myself, I am embarrassed to say how easy it actually is! If you haven’t tried to make it yourself because you think it’s complicated, do yourself a favor and give it a try! It will become your go to dessert to impress people, but put in minimal effort.
The most exotic ingredient is unflavored gelatin, which is actually incredibly easy to use. I easily found it at my small town local grocery store in the baking section. This panna cotta is infused with lavender extract to make it the perfect spring dessert. And, pairs excellently with the ice wine jelly.
Ice wine is made from grapes that have been frozen on the vine. The results is a sweet intense flavor that makes a delicious jello like jelly in this dessert. Edible flowers are placed in the ice wine jelly to make the treat feel extra special. If you are placing flowers in the jelly, the key is to wait for the consistency of the jelly to be just right. You will want to put it in the fridge for about an hour, this will give the liquid a little time to set up so the flowers don’t just float to the surface. But, will also still be pliable enough that the jelly won’t break apart when placing the flowers.
I grow rock cress in my garden for edible flowers. It is incredibly easy to grow and the small purple flowers are lovely in desserts and salads. I enjoy growing edible flowers because I get not only something beautiful to add to my cooking, but also something beautiful for my garden. And, if you are limited on space to an apartment terrace, edible flowers will grow lovely in pots.
Read all about how to grow, harvest, and eat some of our favorite edible flowers.
Growing Zones
Rock Cress: 4-7
Learn more about your growing zone here.
Hand-Drawn Printable Recipe
Lavender Panna Cotta Cups with Layered Ice Wine Jelly and Edible Flowers
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 8
- Total Time: 28 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Delightful layered lavender panna cotta with ice wine jelly and edible flowers is the perfect dessert for a special occasion or easy enough for just because.
Ingredients
For Panna Cotta
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (about 2 tbs)
2 tbs hot water
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half n half
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lavender extract
For Ice Wine Jelly
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (about 2 tbs)
2 tbs hot water
2 cups ice wine
1 cup white cranberry juice
edible flowers
Instructions
For Panna Cotta Layer
In a small bowl combine hot water and gelatin, whisking together until gelatin is completely dissolved. Set aside.
In a medium sauce pan, bring cream, half n half and sugar to a boil, dissolving the sugar. Turn off heat.
Add vanilla extract, lavender extract and gelatin mixture to the cream, combining throughly.
In 4 wine glasses, ramekin, bowl, or vessel of choice, add panna cotta cream in equal amounts. Put in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or longer, to set completely.
For Ice Wine Layer
In a small bowl combine hot water and gelatin, whisking together until gelatin is completely dissolved. Set aside.
In a medium sauce pan, bring ice wine and juice to a boil, turn off heat.
Add gelatin mixture to the ice wine, combining throughly.
Allow to cool to room temperature. Should still be a thin liquid, but not hot. About 30 minutes.
Add ice wine layer on top of the panna cotta layer. Put in refrigerator for about an hour until the ice wine layer is a thin jelly consistency. Then place edible flowers into the jelly layer. The flowers should stay in place where you put them, without floating to the top. And the jelly should still be liquid enough not to break the layer when you place them.
Put back in the refrigerator for another 3 hours or overnight.
Notes
You will see how simple this recipe is once you get going. There are only two areas you might find trouble, and most of that is just being patient and waiting.
– You need to let the ice wine cool before adding it to the panna cotta, otherwise it will melt the panna cotta into the ice wine layer. This will still result in a delicious dessert but won’t be as pretty.
– For placing the edible flowers in the ice wine layer. It is important that the consistency is correct. It must be thick enough that the flowers don’t just float to the surface. But thin enough that the jelly heals itself when you are working with it. I have found a small crab pick works best like these.
- Category: Dessert
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