Panacotta with an Asian twist

I'm totally hopeless at making desserts. I love eating them, but baking usually defeats me. I'm a total klutz at getting the measurements right, or the oven temperatures correctly. I don't have all the necessary equipment, and making do never works. But when I came across this recipe for a panacotta with an Asian twist, it sounded so yummy and refreshing, and well, quite doable. And so I tried it. And it worked. Every time!

I love passionfruit. Scooping out the gelatinous pulp and seeds from the hard shell, it's just a matter of spooning them over ice cream or stirring them into a summer's drink to enjoy its tart flavor. This recipe is dead simple. I suppose you could substitute some raspberries or other crushed fruit if you can't find or don't like passionfruit, but I find that a bit of tartness works very well with the creamy smoothness and richness of the panacotta. What I like is the addition of coconut milk which adds an Asian element to this Italian favorite.

Don't let the picture fool you. You only need to make each panacotta in a small half-cup sized jelly mold. Like I said, I don't have that many baking utensils, and I found that my whisky shot glasses worked fine! A little goes a long way, and that little panacotta really provides a fresh finish to any meal. It's made even nicer with a few slices of mango to round it all off!

Coconut Panacotta with Passionfruit Jelly

4 servings

Ingredients
2 tbsp icing sugar
3-4 passionfruits
2 tsp powdered gelatine
1/2 cup hot water
400 ml coconut milk
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp caster sugar
3 tsp powdered gelatine

Method
Scoop out the passionfruit pulp from the shells and gradually stir in the icing sugar to the mixture.
Dissolve 2 tsp gelatine into 1/2 cup hot water until dissolved. Add to the passionfruit mixture and pour equally into four jelly molds. Refrigerate until set.
In a saucepan, heat coconut milk, cream, caster sugar and 3 tsp gelatine, until sugar and gelatine are dissolved. Do not boil. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Pour mixture over set passionfruit jellies and refrigerate until set (at least 6 hours).
Just before serving, dip the molds quickly into a small bowl of hot water. Invert onto serving plates and serve with sliced mango.