The White Ramekins

food & photography

Baklava Spiced Panna Cotta With Pomegranate Jelly

by

Baklava Spiced Panna Cotta With Pomegranate Jelly

Baklava spiced panna cotta with pomegranate jelly, is a big mouthful. I know, but there is something about the mouthful of recipe names, they sound like a lullaby to my ears. The long names always intrigue me a lot, as if they have a story to tell. Now that may sound a little eccentric to you. But that’s the way it is with me at least. Nonetheless the recipes themselves are as interesting their names may sound. And this one, panna cotta being my favorite Italian dessert, has become all the more exotic when I say it has got Baklava spice flavors.

Baklava Spiced Panna Cotta With Pomegranate Jelly

The medley of flavors just doesn’t end up here, there is more to it. The pomegranate jelly made with fresh seasonal pomegranate juice takes this quintessential Italian dessert to another level. With festival season just round the corner, we tend to draw more towards the luxurious feasts and rich food. And it can’t get any richer than a slice of nutty, syrupy Baklava. I had this dessert first time, while I was in US. One of my Iranian colleague at work had brought boxes full of baklava of different shapes and sizes from his native place. It was the first bite, and I was in love with it. It had that feeling of festivities attached to it.

Baklava Spiced Panna Cotta With Pomegranate Jelly

I have been hoping to make baklava from scratch at home from a very long time, but the fear of rolling those perfect phyllo sheets at home has been keeping me away. And you all know, how busy it gets during the festival season. But I am truly wishing that I get to tick this off soon from my list, at least I’ll give it a try this Diwali. But till then, just to keep myself happy, I made this baklava spiced panna cotta with pomegranate jelly. Just look at them, how pretty they look. They easily can become the showstopper at your dinner party this festival season. And they are extremely easy to make without any fuss at all. The sweetness is just perfect and the spiced flavors definitely work best for the season.

Baklava Spiced Panna Cotta With Pomegranate Jelly

Baklava Spiced Panna Cotta With Pomegranate Jelly
Baklava Spiced Panna Cotta With Pomegranate Jelly, a quintessential Italian dessert with middle eastern inspired flavors
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
For the panna cotta
  1. 2 tbsp gelatin powder
  2. 1 cup full cream milk
  3. 2 cups single cream
  4. 1/2 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise
  5. 2 tbsp honey
  6. 1 tsp rosewater essence
  7. 1 orange, finely grated zest
  8. 1/3 cup sugar
  9. 1 sticks cinnamon
For the pomegranate jelly
  1. 500 ml pomegranate juice
  2. 2 tbsp gelatin powder
For serving
  1. seeds from one pomegranate
  2. pistachios, roughly chopped
For pomegranate jelly
  1. Sprinkle the gelatin powder on top of 1/4 cup of cold water and let it stand for 10 minutes.
  2. Place pomegranate juice into saucepan and gently heat until warm.
  3. Add the gelatin water into the warmed pomegranate juice and whisk to dissolve gelatin.
  4. Strain liquid then divide into serving glasses. Place in fridge to set completely.
For Panna Cotta
  1. Place milk, cream, vanilla, honey, rosewater, orange zest, sugar and cinnamon in a large saucepan over low-medium heat.
  2. Stir to dissolve sugar, bring to a simmer then turn off the heat and allow cinnamon and vanilla bean to infuse for 30 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle the gelatin powder on top of 1/4 cup of cold water and let it stand for 10 minutes.
  4. Remove cinnamon and vanilla bean from saucepan, gently reheat to so that panna cotta is warm.
  5. Add gelatin to the warned milk mixture. Whisk to dissolve gelatine.
  6. Remove from heat and allow panna cotta to cool down a little by whisking and removing excess heat.
  7. Divide and pour the panna cotta mixture into the same serving glasses to create a layered effect. Place in fridge and allow to set overnight.
  8. To serve, garnish with a little chopped pistachio, pomegranate seeds.
Notes
  1. Do not pour really hot panna cotta mixture onto jelly as you risk the jelly melting slightly and the colour bleeding into the panna cotta.
Adapted from ABC Delicious Magazine
Adapted from ABC Delicious Magazine
The White Ramekins https://thewhiteramekins.com/

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

by

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

Fresh seasonal ingredients are always a welcome at our place and we embrace them open heartedly with both hands. Be it green vegetables or some lusciously juicy fruit, they always rule the roost in our dinner menus. I love the way they create magic together. And if you are regular here, you must have known by now that how often I preach about using fresh seasonal ingredients in our recipes. Even I can’t think of cakes and bakes without the seasonal foods. Not only they add to the taste, but they also bring along the vibrant lively colours with them.

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

So this time, I am back with yet another stunningly beautiful, amazingly delicious and super healthy Lebanese salad, Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh, which is I think is one of the versatile salad of the Palestinian origin. A classic Tabbouleh is all about parsley and less of the the Bulgar (cracked wheat). It’s a well seasoned and sharp medley of lots of fresh parsley, mint leaves, red juicy tomatoes and some al dente bulgar wheat.

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

The proportion of parsley to bulgar varies across the regions of Palestine and Lebanon. I had this salad sometime back at a restaurant where they had prepared it with Quinoa (one of the in-vogue super food these days) instead of bulgar. Now for me, both these grains are super expensive being here in India. So I started reading about Bulgar on the internet. Here in India, we consume a lot of cracked wheat (called Dalia here) and thought if I could substitute bulgar with cracked wheat.

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

They differ at the processing stage. Bulgar is partially steamed where as cracked wheat (dalia) is completely raw. After I knew this fact, it got easier for me to play around with the substitution. And of course, how could this be without the use of seasonal produce.

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

The salad was bejewelled further by the ruby red pearls of pomegranate and hearty and wholesome grilled corn. This became a wonderful concoction.  We had this in dinner with falafel, hummus and pita bread followed by baklava spiced panna cotta (I will write about this in my next recipe post). Everyone had a rave review about the tabbouleh.In fact, few of my friends who just can’t stand cracked wheat (dalia), they actually loved it and asked for second helping. It’s one of those super healthy salads, which is definitely going to be our family favourite.

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh
Grilled corn & pomegranate tabbouleh, a super healthy and delicious salad made with parsley, grilled corn, pomegranate and cracked wheat (dalia)
Write a review
Save Recipe
Print
Ingredients
  1. 30 gm bulgar wheat or cracked wheat
  2. 2 large tomatoes, ripe but firm
  3. 1 shallot, finely chopped
  4. 2 tbsp lemon juice
  5. 4 large bunch of parsley or coriander
  6. 2 bunches of mint
  7. seeds of one pomegranate
  8. 1 corn on the cob
  9. 1 small cucumber, chopped finely
  10. 2 tsp cumin powder
  11. 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
  12. 1 tsp sumac
  13. salt and black pepper
Instructions
  1. If using bulgar, put it in fine sieve and run under cold water until the water coming through looks clear and most of the starch has been removed. If using cracked wheat (dalia), roast it in a pan on medium heat until lightly golden. Add one cup of water, cover and cook until all the water is absorbed. Let cool completely. Once cooled, separate the cooked grains with a fork. Transfer bulgar/cracked wheat in a mixing bowl.
  2. Grill the corn on a barbecue or on a medium flame, until lightly charred. Run a knife along the length of the cob to separate the seeds from the cob. Transfer to the above mixing bowl.
  3. Dice the tomatoes, shallot and add to the mixing bowl.
  4. Chop the parsley and pick the mint leaves off the stems and add to the bowl.
  5. Finally add lemon juice, cumin powder, sumac, pomegranate seeds, cucumber, olive oil and some salt and pepper and mix well. Taste and add more salt and pepper and lemon juice if you like and serve.
Adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
Adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
The White Ramekins https://thewhiteramekins.com/
Grilled Corn & Pomegranate Tabbouleh

Pomegranate Jewel Cake {Egg Free}

by

Pomegranate Jewel Cake {Egg Free}

Pomegranate Jewel Cake….got the inspiration to bake this wonderful ruby red pomegranate seeds studded cake from ever so enigmatic Nigella Lawson’s Feast. First time flipping through the pages of her enormous book on recipes around festivities round the year, this was one of those recipes which I lay my eyes on. And I wanted to bake this cake soon. I wanted to bake the recipe from her book, but I guess something else was destined. Right when I had got all the ingredients for the cake, my dear mother called me telling me to abstain from eggs or meat, as it was Navratri (nine days of fasting and having only satvik food). What a timing! But what could be done, the inspiration had already kicked in, and I didn’t want to get myself disappointed. So, I thought of taking the inspiration as the lead and bake an egg free cake. Though not a big fan of egg free cakes. I remembered, a dear friend of mine had given me this egg free vanilla cake recipe link at ChefInYou sometimes back. And I vividly remembered that the recipe had called for condensed milk. I opened my fridge and my eyes gleamed through. I had half a tin sitting in the back, left from the Iced Coffee I made last. So I was all sorted now. Happy happy moi. Pomegranates are in full bloom and have flooded the markets. You just can’t ignore them. Fruits when in peak of their season are always the best buy. And you never can go wrong with those lusciously naturally ripened gifts of mother earth. Like in this case, ruby red seeds pearls shine on top of this fragrant vanilla cake, look no less than an open jewel-case of a cake. And I took the flavors and the beauty of this cake to another level, by topping the cake with a generous layer of wicked dark chocolate ganache. What fun!

Pomegranate Jewel Cake {Egg Free}

Pomegranate Jewel Cake {Egg Free}

Pomegranate Jewel Cake {Egg Free}Pomegranate Jewel Cake {Egg Free} Pomegranate Jewel Cake {Egg Free}

Ingredients

1 cup (140gm) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (200 gms) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup (60ml) melted butter, cooled
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup ( 5 tbsp/ 75 ml) of water
100 gm dark chocolate, chopped
50 ml low fat cream
2 big pomegranates

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degree C and grease a 7″ circular pan and keep aside.
  2. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda.
  3. In another bowl, mix together condensed milk, butter, vanilla extract and water.
  4. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and fold gently without over mixing.
  5. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 150 degree C and bake for another 15 minutes or until skewer inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
  6. Let the cake cool in tin for 10 minutes and then invert onto a wire rack to let cool completely.
  7. Take juice out of one pomegranates and drizzle it on top of the cake.
  8. In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cream until it starts to boil. Add the chopped chocolate and let it stand for 5 minutes. Stir well to combine the chocolate and cream.
  9. Top the cake with chocolate topping and then scatter the seeds of second pomegranate on top of it and serve.