Cherries & Chocolate
recipes for a white chocolate panna cotta and a cherry, ricotta & chocolate chip cake
One of the many joys of summer is all the excellent ingredients it gives us to bake with. Peaches! Nectarines! Apricots! And the focus of this weeks recipes, cherries! But we before we get there, I’ll catch you up on what I’ve been up to recently.
I spent a few days in Naples last week and it was my first time visiting. Although it’s not as picturesque as Florence or Sicily and most people just use it as a pit stop on the way to Amalfi, I had a great time and ate very very well. I loved walking around the Spanish quarter with it’s maze of narrow alleys and constant toots from scooters trying to get past. Naples has wonderful street food and I tried my first pizza fritta (fried pizza) and was pleasantly surprised at how light it was. Filled with ricotta, tomatoes and basil, the dough was unbelievably thin and crisp, not greasy at all. And for about €5, an absolute steal.
The trip wouldn’t have been complete without seeking out some bakeries to try something sweet. Naples did not disappoint in this area. The fiocco di neve at Pasticceria Poppella were fantastic. Little balls of the lightest, almost chewy brioche, filled generously with a mix of ricotta and cream. I also had to try the classic Napoli pastry, a Sfogliatella. It’s beautiful to look at, layers of super thin pastry overlapping into a shell shape and filled with ricotta, semolina and citrus. This made for an indulgent late breakfast most mornings sat outside in the sun, accompanied by a strong espresso. Very chic, very Italian.
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Back to this weeks recipes where I’m making the most out of cherries. I remember growing up buying brown paper bags filled with them from the local grocer and eating them on the way home, lips and fingers stained red.
Chocolate and cherries truly are the best of friends and I’ve got a recipe for a white chocolate panna cotta. This milky, creamy dessert is the perfect backdrop for the roasted cherries that I toss in some balsamic vinegar. They get nice and syrupy and the extra acidity really brightens things up and makes them pop.
For paid subscribers, I’ve also got a lovely one layer cake, perfect for a weekend bake. Inspired by all the ricotta based sweets over in Italy, I’ve used some in this cherry, ricotta and chocolate chip cake that is the perfect level of squidgy and fruity.
VIRTUAL COOKIE CLASS
Just a heads up for those who’d like to join, I’m hosting a virtual cookie class with Milk Street next Saturday on the 13th July. It’ll be online so you can join at home wherever you are in the world and we’ll be making three cookie recipes from my latest cookbook - preserved lemon and olive oil cookies, smoked salt and halva cookies and my white chocolate, pretzel and rye cookie. Tickets can be purchased here! And for 15% off, use the code : BAKEWITHBENJAMINA
WHITE CHOCOLATE PANNA COTTA WITH ROASTED BALSAMIC CHERRIES
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A good panna cotta should be in everyone’s repertoire. It’s such a hands off pudding to make and the hardest part is waiting for it to chill long enough in the fridge. You’ve got a couple of options here on how to serve. If you’ve got moulds you can turn the panna cotta out onto a plate to see that signature wobble. Or you can also just pour the mixture into ramekins, coupes or any small vessel you’ve got in the kitchen.
RECIPE
serves 6
400ml whole milk
350ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
65g caster sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
4 leaves gelatine (I use Dr Oetker platinum grade leaves)
100g white chocolate, finely chopped
For the cherries:
150g cherries, pitted
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
METHOD
Add the gelatine leaves to a small bowl filled with cold water and set aside.
Add the milk, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt to a saucepan and heat gently until it’s hot and steamy, just before it comes to the boil.
Add the chopped chocolate to a bowl. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds before mixing well until fully melted.
Remove the softened gelatine out of the water and squeeze out any excess water. Add the gelatine to the milk mixture and mix well until completely dissolved.
Pour the mixture into a jug before decanting it into ramekins or moulds.
Let it cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for 4-6 hours or overnight.
To make the cherries, preheat the oven to 170C fan.
Add the cherries to a small baking dish, toss with the sugar, balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of water and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cherries are softened and syrupy. Let them cool completely before using.
If using moulds, dip them briefly in hot water and flip upside down to release the panna cottas. Serve with some of the roasted cherries.
CHERRY, RICOTTA AND CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE
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