Our Little Prince and a Frozen Vanilla Delight

This is indeed a special guest post I meet Nelly on twitter through the amazing Terra of Cafe Terra Blog, a sweet blogger based in Charlotte NC. Nelly is a super talented person, with a wicked sense of humor. A trained pastry chef and freelance writer she has a fun blog and is a must follow on twitter she will go far, a star in the making :0) 

Also big news our little Prince arrived this Tuesday at 9.30 am after a long labor and then a c section, but its all good he is here and healthy. Mum and Dad are here to help and we extended my Mum in Law's flight a couple of days to see the little guy. We are having a birthday party for Jasmine tomorrow making a cake and little frogs in ponds, you may recall Maureen's guest post :-) 

Guest Posting is usually done to share recipes with new readers, to take care of someone's blog when they are on vacation...but this is my first guest post taking care of someone's blog that just had a baby boy! Hello Chow and Chatter readers, I am Nelly over from Cooking with Books here to share with you a delicious and simple recipe!

I don't remember how or when I met Rebecca, but we instantly hit it off! She's incredibly caring, with so much information to share and an endless craving to learn more about the culinary world. She'll ask random questions that get us thinking, she'll introduce you to great people and in the end, it's the little things like her asking how our day is going.

She's now busy with a new baby boy and the always adorable Jasmine, so I thought this dessert would be perfect to whip up! No need to turn on the oven and with just a little simmering on the stove and an overnight setting in the freezer, topped with whatever preserves or fruit you have available and you've got a dessert worthy of a restaurant!

I don't know much about motherhood (and by much, I mean I don't know anything!), but I am guessing new Moms rarely have time to eat! So I though, what would be better than just having a sweet dessert with fruit during the middle of the night while you wake up to feed the baby? Since these are frozen delights, they easily keep in the freezer until you are craving something sweet and are a great dessert stash to have for when you get all those new baby visits!

Frozen Vanilla Delight 
Panna Cotta Recipe from"The New Best Recipe" from the Editors of Cook's Illustrated

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
2 3/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 cups heavy cream (I substituted for whipping cream, which was what I had in the fridge!)
1 piece of vanilla (2 inches long) or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt

Method

1. In a medium saucepan, pour milk and sprinkle gelatin over it to hydrate. 
2. Meanwhile, set up a large bowl with ice and water. In a separate bowl, pour cream and vanilla and reserve.
3. Over medium heat, heat the milk and gelatin until the gelatin dissolves. Turn off heat and add sugar and salt, stirring to dissolve. 
4. Stirring constantly, add the cream and vanilla mixture into the heated milk and gelatin and stir until the mixture thickens (like eggnog). Cool over the ice bath and when cool, strain and pour into flexible molds like this one. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
5. To serve: pop out of molds while still frozen and thaw for about 5 minutes. They'll thaw out pretty fast, so the time you take serving them up will be enough. Serve with berry sauce, fresh preserves, decadent chocolate sauce or fresh fruit!

You could also infuse the milk and cream with other spices, such as: cardamom, cinnamon or nutmeg to give it a spiced flavor. It's meant to be quick and easy, and fast on satisfying cravings. Don't forget to stop over at Cooking with Books where I share recipes, travel photography and more foodie food! Thanks Rebecca for having me over!


Thanks again Nelly and have a wonderful weekend everyone :-)


Love Rebecca