Pannacotta

This is a new dish that we tried just this year for the party at Steve's office and it was just great! You can get a general idea of the dish if you think about it being the Italian version of flan. It's extremely rich; a little bit goes a long way. We really enjoyed this and Steve has specifically requested that we do it again, along with the Manicotti that I made for the main dish.

Caramel:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons water, hot

Pudding:
1 cup milk
1 envelope unflavored gelatin powder
2 cups heavy cream
1 slice of lemon peel
1 piece of cinnamon stick
1/4 cup sugar

To prepare the caramel, put the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Mix very well together with a metal spoon, and place over low heat. Stir the sugar-juice once in a while until it becomes dark gold and begins smoking. Add hot water, bring it to a boil, and remove the pan from the heat. Pour the caramel into a round mould approximately 7 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep; bunt pan works great. Swirl the mold in all directions so that the caramel covers bottom and sides. Set aside.

To prepare the pudding, pour the milk into a small bowl and add the gelatin powder. Set aside to soak for about 5 minutes. In a saucepan, put the cream, lemon rind, cinnamon, and sugar. Turn the heat to medium and bring to a simmer. Remove it from the heat and set it aside to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick and add the milk-gelatin mix; return it to the stove. Stirring, bring to a boil. As soon as the cream starts boiling, remove the pan from heat, pour the mixture into the mould, and let it cool at room temperature. Once at room temperature, place in the fridge to set. Keep it in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (better if overnight) before serving. To un-mold it, place the mould for ONLY a few seconds in very hot water. Any longer than that, and your pannacotta will simply begin to melt. If necessary, insert a knife all around between the mold and the cream to detach it from the walls. Invert onto a serving plate. Dress Pannacotta with berries or fresh fruit for additional color and flavor.

Notes: First of all, this recipe originally came from here. Second, I didn't use lemon peel and a cinnamon stick in the pudding. I used just a dash of lemon juice and very small sprinkly of ground cinnamon. It meant that you could actually see the cinnamon in my pannacotta, but it worked to give it that light cinnamon flavor, and I didn't mind that it was visible.