Coconut Panna Cotta In Sugar Nest

What could I do to lift a panna cotta up from its present state of being old school and overdone, I wondered? I've always wanted to make a sugar nest (spun sugar) but sugar and chocolate craft are very alien to me. Besides, I don't have a candy thermometer and the weather here's extremely humid.

When I was in London last year, Tina, who reads my blog, contacted me and we met, got on like old friends and I even scored a stay with her and her very hubby in their beautiful home near Heathrow Airport. Tina used to own a Peranakan restaurant in Singapore and she is such an excellent and super efficient cook that I felt embarrassed for myself. I hope she never comes for dinner!

Last Saturday,Tina called me from London to confirm our date sometime in December. She was excited for me about the Jelliriffic! challenge and when I told her how I wanted to make a spun sugar nest but don't have a thermometer, she offered to send me a candy thermometer (can't find one here) but I couldn't wait so she insisted that spun sugar can be done, "just check for the soft ball stage". Thanks to her encouragement, I made spun sugar today and although the results are not as fine as I wanted, I'm very thrilled that I finally did it. There's more refinement to do but for now, I am happy that my first attempt was not a failure. And you know, friends like Tina (and many more; you know who you are!) are the reason I continue to blog. I've met so many wonderful people through this blog.

I've seen a video where a sugar nest was spun over a metal mould and it looked really beautiful. After the ! photos w ere taken of the panna cotta walled by the sugar nest, I re-heated the sugar to shape another nest on the mould. It didn't work. The sugar pulled in drippy strands and worse, it stuck to the greased mould. I re-heated the sugar, wrapped the mould with foil, greased it, hoping to pull the foil off once the sugar hardened but the sugar stuck again to the foil. I had re-heated the sugar many times and it was getting more and more burnt. In the end, I gave up but am sure that one day I will spin a sugar nest over a mould. It can be done.

If you've never made panna cotta, make it! It's the easiest dessert to make (just boil cream with gelatine, set it, make a sugar syrup or if you are adventurous, make spun sugar and you will turn a plain-looking dessert into a stunning showpiece. Try it and thank me.

Coconut Panna Cotta In Sugar Nest
The Panna Cotta:
100 ml fresh thick coconut milk
100 ml dairy cream
1 1/2 piece gelatine leaves
1. Soften the gelatine leaves in room temperature for a couple of seconds. Drain.
2. Put the cream, coconut milk and gelatine into a small pot and heat, stirring all the time, until the gelatine is melted. Do not let it boil. Remove, let cool for a few minutes and pour into rinsed Jelliriffic! moulds. Cover with wrap and chill until set.
The Sugar Nest:
1/4 cup coarse sugar
1/8 cup light corn syrup
1/8 cup water
1. Put a handful of ice cubes and a cup of water into a big bowl. Place 2 or 3 pots or frying pans with long handles sticking out over the counter. Place newspapers on the floor to catch sugar drips. Wear an apron.
2. Put sugar, corn syrup and water into a small pot and let simmer without stirring. After about 15 minutes, the sugar will turn light golden and syrupy. If you have a candy thermometer, it should reach 310 F. Remove and plunge the pot into the basin of cold water to stop the cooking. The sugar will thicken further upon cooking.
3. Dip a fork into the sugar syrup, draw! the for k over the handles of the pans to and fro. At first the strands will be very thin and wispy. After a while, the sugar strands will build up. You can re-heat the sugar if it gets too thick to spin. When done, lift the spun sugar off the handles and wrap it around the panna cotta. Spun sugar hardens quickly so it will break easily.
4. Wrap the panna cotta with the spun sugar. Voila! A show stopper!