4th of July Panna Cotta

I may have over done the red, white and blue theme for the 4th of July. We started the day with a red, white and blue coffeecake. I decided to make it a “healthy” coffeecake to start the day because I knew we would be overeating at my sister’s annual BBQ. Unfortunately, it tasted healthy too.

Next, in keeping with the red, white and blue theme, I made Recipe Girl’s Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars to take to the BBQ. Everyone at the party loved the cheesecake bars, but for me the cheesecake was too eggy and not sweet enough. It is a reduced calorie cheesecake recipe, so maybe I should stick to the real deal, but I loved her idea of baking fresh fruit in the bars.

I also made one of our favorite cookies, but in bar form – Oatmeal White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies. I cooked the bars for about 15 minutes and added blue gel dots.

But by far my favorite red, white and blue 4th of July dessert was the Panna Cotta. This is a yummy recipe that I have blogged about before, but it is definitely worth repeating. If you haven’t tried Panna Cotta, it is a wonderful creamy Italian dessert that is easy to make and perfect for summer.

Panna Cotta
Gourmet | August 1997

1 envelope unflavored gelatin (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a very small saucepan sprinkle gelatin over water and let stand about 1 minute to soften. Heat gelatin mixture over low heat until gelatin is dissolved and remove pan from heat.

In a large saucepan bring cream, half and half, and sugar just to a boil over moderately high heat, stirring. Remove pan from heat and stir in gelatin mixture and vanilla. Divide cream mixture among eight 1/2-cup ramekins and cool to room temperature. Chill ramekins, covered, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Dip ramekins, 1 at a time, into a bowl of hot water 3 seconds. Run a thin knife around edge of each ramekin and invert ramekin onto center of a small plate.

Strawberry Sauce
12 oz. package frozen strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. fresh orange juice

Mix sugar and cornstarch. Combined all ingredients in a saucepan and heat on medium heat until strawberries thaw and sauce thickens. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature and then chill. (I added blueberries to the warm, thickened sauce for a red, white and blue 4th of July dessert.)