Buttermilk Panna Cotta

Do you know how incredibly easy it is to make Panna Cotta, or "cooked cream"? If you use more than 5 minutes to put it together, you are doing something wrong. It's a simple, straight forward, fool proof dessert with a fancy name.

I used a combination of buttermilk and pure milk in this recipe. You can swap them for heavy cream or half-and-half. There are many ways to serve Panna Cotta: fresh fruits, coulis, chocolate, caramel, etc. I chose berries with a swirl of pure maple syrup.

You can make this at least two days in advance. I use ramekins but you don't need anything fancy. Tall glass, wine glass, even mason jar would work. If you are using glass, just eat it as it is and don't worry about inverting to plate. Keep it covered and it stays well in fridge for up to one week.

UPDATED: Next morning, I had the leftover Apple Pie with Cream Cheese Crust with this Panna Cotta, YUM YUM!!

Ingredients:
(makes 4 5-oz ramekins)

1½ tsp. unflavored gelatin
½ cup milk
½ cup sugar
1½ cups buttermilk
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over ¼ cup of water. Let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.

2. In a saucepan, heat milk and sugar over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot but not boiling, 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in gelatin mixture, then buttermilk, and vanilla. Pour into 5-oz ramekins and chill until set, 3 hours.

3. To serve, run a knife around edge of ramekin, place a plate on top, flip over and gently shake to turn out onto plate.
Garnish with some berries and swirl of maple syrup or honey.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffin with Peanut Butter Topping

I'm thinking of the one zucchini in the refrigerator. I know I will not be cooking for the next few days. For the little experience I have with zucchini, they decline pretty quickly. So what should I do with it? Do I watch and document its decomposing like what people do on Youtube for rabbit?

Luckily, I don't have to. If you just google "zucchini" you'll find thousands other (westerners) cooks who share one thing in common: getting rid of zucchini before the summer ends. And they all resort to baking - muffin, cake, cupcake, bread -, eventually. Speaking of confused identity: is it a dessert or savory?

I digress. It seems zucchini provides good moisture for the batter: rich, deep and dark with chocolate in this recipe. I love how the muffins come out with melty, oozy chocolate chips. the use of coconut oil gives it a hint of richness, moisture, and flavor that hits your nose before you take a bite, and permeates your house as these bake. Oh! How I love baking with coconut oil!

You don't even need food processor or blender for this - I did it with ease using my own hands. The ingredients below make 3 large muffins. You can double the portion to make 12 standard muffins or 6 large. Another tip I learned from the baker of Cocoa Island: refrigerate the batter overnight.

As I waited for the muffins to cool (after baking), I googled and found a Peanut Butter Topping from Recipezaar . I thought it would compliment the muffin, and helped to kill time. My impatience paid off: if I were a zucchini, this is the way I want to go. I love the Peanut Butter Topping so much I kept "tasting" it despite having consulted Adrian for approval, despite having brushed my teeth. I even decided to store the couple tablespoons extra in case I "need" it (for breakfast toast?).

Ingredients:
(3 large muffins)

For the Muffins

• 120mL brown sugar
  
• 30mL melted butter
• 60mL coconut oil
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1/3 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 40mL buttermilk (1 tbs lemon juice + 1 cup milk; let sit 10 min)
• 1 cup zucchini, grated
• 1/3 cup unsweetened chocolate chip
• 2/3 unbleached flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 2/3 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 teaspoon all-spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1. In a large bowl, mix together brown sugar, melted butter and coconut oil. Stir in egg. Add vanilla extract, buttermilk, grated zucchini and chocolate chips. Fold to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, soda, all-spice and cinnamon. Make a hole in the middle and gently fold in zucchini mixture. Using a spatula, mix to just combined.

(either let it sit overnight or proceed as below)

3. Remove batter from the fridge and let sit in room temperature. Preheat oven to 175C. Lightly grease muffin pan.
4. Spoon batter over the muffin pan. Let baked in the center of the oven for 35 minutes.
5. Let the muffins cool and prepare the topping (optional)

For Peanut Butter Topping (optional)

• 1/2 cup butter (softened at room temperature)
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla essence

1. Cream butter and sugar together
2. Add half the powdered sugar and blend well.
3. Pour in milk and vanilla.
4. Add the other half of sugar.
   
5. Blend until smooth.
   
6. Spread over muffin top to serve.