Berry Jelly and Panna Cotta
Friday night I come home filled with excitement at the prospect of making some dishes from Peter Gilmore’s QUAY featuring dishes from his restaurant. After all, I’ve always wanted to make a three hat restaurant dish from home. I make a list of the recipes I am keen to make over the weekend. I have included two of his signature dishes, the Eight Textured Chocolate Cake and his Sea Pearls.
Saturday morning, 6:30 am. I head to the fish markets to pick up some abalone, sashimi tuna, scallops and mud crab. I even get some scampi and think I can create my own extra sea pearl. I head to the grocery to get the rest of the ingredients.
8:30 am. I’m about to begin my first batch of sea pearls, the scallops. I slice the scallops into thin, almost translucent sheets and make the lime and creme fraiche filling. Next I lay some cling film into coffee cups and line it with five slices of the scallops, a teaspoon of the filling and tie the cling film together to form a little ball. My fist attempt is looking a little more like a jelly fish than a beautiful sea pearl. Hmm… maybe practice makes perfect.
9:30 am. I move on to the tuna sea pearl which is stuffed with a combination of creme fraiche and horseradish. After my third attempt I am having second thoughts about this dish. There is no question about how nicely the flavours work together but my skill at forming the sea pearls aren’t getting any better. I stop with the sea pearls project and head to the grocery to buy ingredients for my chocolate cake.
11:00 am. After what feels like some marathon shopping (there are, after all, 8 components to the cake), I start on the first layer, a chocolate mousse.
Noon. I’m beginning to think I should save this dessert for another time, like a three day weekend or maybe when I have a week off from work. I go back to the book and look for something else to make.
3:00 pm. I realize this cookbook has taken me down. I must have leafed through the book no less than five times before I accept that the skill required to make dishes from this book was beyond me and that I would probably be luckier trying to get a booking on a Friday night at his restaurant (which is booked solid until 2011) than actually completing any dish from this book.
3:01 pm. A glimmer of hope. I find a recipe for a white nectarine, cherry and white raspberry jelly/panna cotta dessert. Despite not being able to source the fruits he has suggested the recipe is easy enough to do (at least compared to everything else I’ve seen so far). There are two layers, a vanilla panna cotta and a fruit jelly layer. The fruit jelly layer is done in two stages to give the effect of the fruit being suspended in different layers. I plan to substitute berries for the fruits in the recipe. I go back to the grocery and the woman at the counter comments that I have been to the grocery three times today.
6:00 pm. I’m done and the dessert is setting in the refrigerator.
Strawberry Jelly and Panna Cotta
Someone once said that he who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.
It was past 9:00 pm when I removed my jellies from their moulds. As I reflected on my day, I realized that while I put a few project from this book on hold, I wasn’t ready to give up yet. One day I’d make the sea pearls (and this time they would look like pearls!) and one day, I’d make that elusive Eight-texture chocolate cake. Maybe not next week… or the week after… but one day.
Adapted from Peter Gilmore’s Cookbook QUAY
Serves 6
- 650 grams caster sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
- 1 pint strawberries, quartered (250 grams)
- 1 pint raspberries (125 grams)
- 1 pint blueberries (125 garms)
- 5.5 sheets of gelatine (titanium strength weighing 5 grams each)
Vanilla Panna Cotta
- 600 grams cream (35% fat)
- 120 grams caster sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
- 3 sheets gelatine (titanium strength weighing 5 grams each)
- For the strawberry jelly, cut the strawberries in quarters and combine this with the 650 grams sugar, half a vanilla bean and 1 litre of water in a large pan. Bring this to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Poach the strawberries for around 30 minutes.
- When done, pour the syrup through a fine sieve and measure out 800 mls and set this aside.
- Soak the 5.5 sheets of gelatine in cold water and when soft, squeeze out the extra water and add this to the strawberry syrup. Stir to dissolve.
- Lay 6 ramekins or dariole moulds on your benchtop and lay a few raspberries, blueberries and strawberries on the bottom. Cover with the strawberry syrup and place in the refrigerator until set, around 45 minutes.
- Once set, make the second layer so that it looks like the fruit is suspended at different levels. To do this, place a few more of the berries on top of the first layer and then cover with the poaching syrup. If the poaching syrup for some reason has set, you can rewarm this if necessary. Allow the second layer to set for another 45 minutes.
For the Vanilla Panna Cotta
- Bring the 600 grams cream, 120 grams caster sugar and half a vanilla bean to the boil and then pass this through a sieve and discard the vanilla bean.
- In a separate bowl, soak the 3 gelatine leaves with cold water and once softened add this to the cream and stir to dissolve.
- Allow to cool slightly but not set and pour the panna cotta in each mould (around 1 cm high) and place in the refrigerator to allow to set for at least 4 hours.
- To assemble, invert the dariole moulds or ramekins on to a plate, With a kitchen blow torch, gently heat each side of the mould with the flame. Cool for a couple of seconds and then lift the mould away carefully. Serve with some of the extra fruit on the side.
Berry Jelly and Panna Cotta
Peter Gilmore’s book is an amazing work and a great source of inspiration. While many of the recipes may be too involved for many cooks, there are great ideas and flavour combinations that you can adapt for home use.
Trissalicious 
Wow! What a massive day of cooking. Hats off to you for your persistence. I love how the berries look suspended. Looks beautiful.
No that’s not called cheating.. Its called ART! -)
Love it!
I don’t think that it’s cheating, after all you are cooking it. Now if you were to get one from a restaurant and say that you made it…well that is cheating 😛
That is such a pretty dish! Restaurant quality, certainly 😉
What an epic! It looks delicious, gorgeous and well worth all the effort!
The fruit suspension is what I never understood – but this makes perfect sense. SO gorgeous.
Such a great learning experience. THANK YOU, Trissa!
XO
Valerie
oh wow. this looks stunning! i’m dying to try Quay one day. just an hour plane ride away!
Oooooh! Gorgeous! I can almost taste the freshness and creamy goodness! Mmmm! Well done! I’m exhausted just reading through your day! What a marathon effort!
That is so beautiful. True restaurant quality. Just seeing something like that on my plate would be enough to make me smile.
That is cool. I may try this for my daughters bday
Oh my..beautiful!
The pannacotta looks amazing, i am sure you will master the other recipes in time too if you can make wonderful layered dessert as this.
I definitely love the “see-through” berry jelly, atop the panna cotta.
Oh my goodness Trissa, these are pure art. Congratulations, I’m so impressed. So very true, one cannot fly into flying…, you’ve obviously done your time.
Amazing- great work! I think I can just let all the other bloggers do the hard work and read about their triumphs because I would dismally fail at peter’s book- but your hard work really paid off!
OoOooo!!! I have like 3 punnets of strawberries and blueberries at home which I was thinking..”what should I do with these”… now I know!! thanks for the recipe!! looks so good cant wait to try it out!
Aww Trissa, that was a truly impressive effort to keep going all day! I would have given up around 11am haha. Gorgeous jelly and panna cotta, can’t wait to see you conquer the sea pearls.
You will get there as long as you keep trying. Baby steps! And lots of jelly and panna cotta to keep your spirits up in the meantime =p
You did a fabulous job, Trissa! I love the colors. And it makes such a stunning presentation.
I saw a recipe by Jamie Oliver once that resembled the clear gelatin fruit layer and he didn’t even attempt the other layers! Good for you.
I’ll have to look into that cookbook….it sounds a stunner and something to aspire to!
This is gorgeous, Trissa! And I know you will definitely be making all those even fancier desserts before you know it. After all, you’re a already a master of macarons, which bring many home bakers to their knees with fear hehe. Look forward to your posts about conquering the rest of this book.
Heavens, Trissa, what a day! I hope you collect points at your supermarket 🙂
After so much effort, you ended up with some very pretty desserts, and I have no doubt you’ll conquer the rest of those recipes too.
Wow, what a committed weekend of recipes. The panna cotta looks superb.
That cookbook sounds quite complicated though, eep!
And how have I not seen that eight texture chocolate heaven before? I watched the YouTube video and that moment where the sauce hits the crater in the middle and just melts away is pure bliss!
Awww… I’m sure a talented person like you would be able to re-create these dishes soon, I believe in you Trissa! That jelly pannacotta sure does look amazing though!
What a day! I know how you feel 😛
The jellies turned out beautifully!
Trissa, if anyone can make a Peter Gilmore dish it is you my friend. I love this dessert. Its simply beautiful. Can you please promise me a slice of the Eight Textured Chocolate Cake when you make it??
What an awesome dessert! Thanks for sharing. Oh, and lovely photos dear.
Good grief, they are beautiful, all those suspended gems! Not only that … your presentation may be simple, but it screams elegance. You just have it, Trissa. That pic of the Strawberry Jelly & Panna Cotta is exquisite!
Aw, crystal clear, beautiful strawberry jelly. Love it very much.
so pretty! love the two layers and the dainty fruits.
So pretty, it’s like a mini work of art.
Amazing! I really want to get a table at the Quay.
I say bravo for leaping head first – I wouldn’t have even tried to make anything complex, even this dish requires skill, and yours, might I say, looks absolutely as elegant as any restaurant dish
Oh goodness, that looks like it would be right at home at any 3 hat establishment! It’s so gorgeous!
Ooh, the jellies are so lovely! The berries are beautifully suspended, and the panna cotta looks so light. Well done!
I must say, Trissa, I’m impressed that you know when to chuck in the towel (for the time being, anyway). If it was me, I would have struggled on and got really frustrated. No, wait, I wouldn’t have even tried those recipes in the first place! Best of luck with your next attempt. I know you’ll do it magnificently.
that looks delicious, Trissa!
I attempted to make a soup from a three hat restaurant last night and it took sooooo loooooong to make. Wonderful result at the end, but I was too tired to style and took photos! lol
Oh!! Thanks for sharing the tips for the floating berries. They look so beautiful and I was wondering how did you do that. I am sure you will tackle the choc cake and sea petal soon! I have faith in you 🙂