KitchenBaroness: Avocado Panna Cotta With A Layer Of Morello Sour Cherry Jelly

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Avocado Panna Cotta With A Layer Of Morello Sour Cherry

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Creamy sage coloured avocado paired with a contrasting jelly of sweet and tart rubied morello cherries.

I have been eating a lot of avocados lately, most often in the form of my current obsession, the Japanese inspired, Avocado Salad With A Homemade Sesame & Applesauce Dressing. (Click on the link to read up on that).

To add a bit of variety to my avocado eating spree, I came up with this dessert. Why do creamy desserts have to be almost always calorie laden?

I tell myself well yes, avocados are calorie laden but they are filled with these high amounts of vitamins and minerals and the good kind of fats too. So, it cannot be that bad eating it. Everything in moderation. The problem is I am not eating avocados in moderation, at least not for the moment and it doesn't help that this dessert is too easy to put together.

I will stop soon ... maybe after making another round of these lovely Avocado Panna Cottas. And who can resist that tart jelly layer of morello sour cherries? It offsets the creamy avocado layer so beautifully.

My pants are so not going to fit soon.

To reduce the calories, I had also made a batch using just milk. I prefer the lighter taste. You choose which you would prefer.

AVOCADO PANNA COTTA WITH A LAYER OF MORELLO SOUR CHERRY JELLY

Prep:	10 + 10 minutes
Cook:	2 + 2 minutes
Inactive:	2 hours in refrigerator or 1 hour in freezer.
Level:	Easy
Serves:	10 cups of 1/3 cup portions
Oven Temperature:	-
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Up to 2 days ahead. Refrigerate.

Just the ingredients

Avocado panna cotta layer

3 and 1/2 teaspoons gelatine
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk
1 cup (250ml) whipping cream
OR

Use all milk and replace whipping cream with an equal amount of milk

1 and 1/3 cups (250g) avocado flesh from ~ 3 avocados
1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoons salt

2 packets vanilla sugar
OR
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Morello sour cherries layer
-Use raspberry/strawberry flavoured Jell-O
1 cup morello sour cherries drained of liquid

90g (3.17oz)(~7.5 Tablespoons) raspberry/strawberry flavoured Jell-O

1 cup water
1/4 cup cold water

1/4 teaspoon citric acid

OR
-Make your Morello Sour Cherry Jelly
1 cup morello sour cherries drained of liquids
1 cup soaking liquid from the bottle of morello sour cherries
1 and 1/2 teaspoons gelatine
1/4 teaspoon citric acid
2 Tablespoons sugar

Ingredients to make your own morello sour cherry jelly

Ingredients

Avocado panna cotta layer

3 and 1/2 teaspoons gelatine

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup milk

1 cup (250ml) whipping cream
Do not use double/thickened cream. Avocado is very rich on its own and when you put the two together, it becomes cloyingly rich.
OR
Use all milk and replace whipping cream with an equal amount of milk

1 and 1/3 cups (250g) avocado flesh from ~ 3 avocados

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoons salt

2 packets vanilla sugar
OR
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Morello sour cherries layer

- You have 2 options.

(1) Use raspberry/strawberry flavoured Jell-O
(2) Make your own jelly layer from the morello sour cherry soaking liquid.

Use raspberry/strawberry flavoured Jello-O

1 cup morello sour cherries drained of liquid

Do not buy those that are actually preserves (jam). What you need are those that are kept in lightly sweetened water (not a thick syrup). I like these Hungarian sour cherries which I bought from a better stocked supermarket.

90g (3.17oz) (~7 and 1/2 Tablespoons) raspberry/strawberry flavoured Jell-O
Stay away from cherry flavoured Jell-O as it taste like medicine!

1 cup water

1/4 cup cold water

1/4 teaspoon citric acid
This gives the Jell-O layer tartness. I find it important to add as it balances the creaminess of the avocado cream layer. To find out more about citric acid and where else I have used it, please scroll down to 'Tips'.

OR

Make your own morello sour cherries jelly layer

1 cup morello sour cherries drained of liquids
Do not buy morello sour cherries that are actually preserves (jam). What you need are those that are kept in lightly sweetened water (not a thick syrup). I like the bottle of Hungarian sour cherries which I bought from a better stocked supermarket. Picture above.

1 cup soaking liquid from the bottle of morello sour cherries (top up with water if insufficient)

1 and 1/2 teaspoons gelatine1/4 teaspoon citric acid
This gives the jelly layer tartness which I find is important as it acts as a balance to the rich avocado cream layer. Taste the soaking liquid that the sour cherries comes in, if you find it tart enough, leave out the citric acid.

To find out more about citric acid and where else I have used it, please scroll down to 'Tips'.

2 Tablespoons sugar
You may or may not need it depending on the sweetness of the soaking liquid that the sour cherries comes in. Add sugar in last and gradually, adjusting to suit your taste.

Method

Avocado panna cotta layer

In a wide dish, pour in the 1/4 of water. Sprinkle gelatine over the water. Set aside 10 minutes for it to bloom (turn spongy looking).

Warm up 1/4 cup of milk in a pot until tiny bubbles appears around the circumference. There is no need to boil it. Remove from the burner.

Stir in the 'bloomed' gelatine until it dissolves.

Place all the ingredients for the avocado panna cotta layer in a blender, that's: cream (if using), rest of the milk, sugar, avocado, salt, vanilla sugar/vanilla extract and the milk and gelatine mixture. Blend until smooth.

I like the convenience of hand held blenders.

Alternatively, if you have a hand held blender, you should use it as it means less washing up. Add all the ingredients into the vessel you will be using for blending. Add the milk and gelatine mixture last. Blitz away until smooth.

Distribute into your serving cups.

Refrigerate for about ~1 hour or until the top has just set. Leaving it in the freezer will half the firming time. Don't forget about it being there though. Remove as soon as it sets and transfer into the refrigerator.

How do I determine when it has sufficiently set? Press lightly with a finger. If the finger comes off clean, it is ready for the jelly.

Morello sour cherries layer

Use cherry flavoured Jello-O

When the avocado panna cotta layer is almost set, boil the 1 cup of water in a pot. Turn off the heat, add the raspberry/strawberry flavoured Jell-O and stir to dissolve.

Add the citric acid and the 1/4 cup of cold water. Stir to dissolve. Set aside to cool completely.

Make your own morello sour cherries jelly layer

Transfer to a wide saucer, 2 Tablespoons out of the 1 cup of morello sour cherries soaking liquid. Sprinkle the gelatine evenly over it. Set aside for it to 'bloom' - swell and turn spongy looking - about 5 minutes.

Heat up 1/4 cup of the remaining morello sour cherries soaking liquid (keep the rest aside for the moment). Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat, stir in the gelatine mixture until it is dissolved.

Add the rest of the morello sour cherries soaking liquid. Taste and add citric acid and/or sugar if necessary. It should taste slightly more tart and sweet than the end product you are expecting. Cool completely.

Adding the layer of jelly

Only add the liquid jelly when it has completely cooled, if not, any residual heat might melt the avocado layer.

Distribute the jelly evenly between the cups of avocado panna cotta.

Pour the liquid jelly from a 1/2" (1.25cm) height in a circular motion on to the avocado layer. This creates less of a chance of you wreaking the avocado layer especially if your liquid jelly has not been cooled enough or if your avocado layer has not firmed up enough.

Pouring it in from a low height also means less chance of bubbles appearing on the surface of your jelly.

Distribute the sour morello cherries evenly. Refrigerate until set.

Tips

Citric acid

This is a naturally occurring fruit acid. It is sold in the form of tiny crystals and adds a tartness to food. It is also used as a preservative and you will often see it labelled as an ingredient in drinks, jams, canned food, etcetera. In a pinch, you could use it in place of lemons to sour up a sauce or dressing. You should find this in the baking aisles of supermarkets.

I use citric acid in my recipes for Iced Lemon Tea With Oomph, Mirror Jelly Cake and Lemon Cookies.