Buttermilk Panna Cotta

Bryce Whittlesey

Wheatleigh

Lenox MA

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Creamy panna cotta has a brighter flavor when made with buttermilk. Chef Whittlesey suggests increasing the gelatin powder to 2 teaspoons in hot weather.

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Makes nine 2.5-ounce timbales

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1-1/2 teaspoons gelatin powder

2 tablespoons cold water

1-1/4 cups heavy (whipping) cream

1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon sugar

1-1/4 cups buttermilk

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9 round butter cookies, or 18 long, thin butter cookies

9 mint leaves

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Rub the insides of nine 2-1/2 ounce timbales lightly with canola oil. Blot away any excess.

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Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the cold water in a small stainless steel bowl. Let stand 5 to 10 minutes, until softened.

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In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the cream and sugar to a boil. Stir in the softened gelatin until it is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the buttermilk. Blend until very smooth with a hand blender. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve into a large cup with a spout. Skim off any foam. Pour into the prepared molds. Place on a baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and chill at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. The panna cottas can keep 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator.

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To serve: Place a timbale to one end of a long dish. Place a round butter cookie, or criss-cross two long, thin butter cookies, at the other end. Roll a mint leaf and insert into the center of the panna cotta. Repeat for each serving.

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Alternatively, round butter cookies can be trimmed to fit exactly over the top of each timbale, then the timbales can be unmolded onto plates, turning the butter cookies into bases. Insert a rolled mint leaf into the top of each.

Fromage Blanc Ice Cream with Blueberry Caramel and Strawberries
Killian Weigand
Excelsior
Boston MA

Special for summer´s Red-White-and-Blue Celebration: a festive dessert with all three colors by Chef Killian Weigand of Lydia Shire´s new Excelsior in Boston, patriotic territory indeed. Pyramids of white fromage blanc ice cream are paved with bright red strawberry slices. Then comes the splash of blueberry caramel! Crisp, translucent pine nut wafers, more candy than wafer, add a final touch. The great news is that you´ll have plenty of ice cream, so you can make the ice cream once and serve this dessert several times during hot weather.

Serves 6

Fromage Blanc Ice Cream

3 pounds fromage blanc (substitute: farmer´s cheese, cream cheese, mascarpone)

3 quarts heavy (whipping) cream

1 quart buttermilk

3 vanilla beans

7 cups sugar

Pine Nut Wafers

1-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups corn syrup

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

3-1/4 cups pine nuts

Blueberry Caramel

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 pint Blueberries

1 cup water

6 large strawberries

Confectioner´s sugar for dusting

To prepare the ice cream: Combine the cream and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Split the vanilla beans and scrape the seeds into the cream mixture, then drop in the pods. Bring just to a boil over medium heat; remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes. Pick out the pods. Put the fromage blanc in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat in the cream mixture at low speed, then beat in the buttermilk. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer´s directions.

Pack into 6 pyramid molds and freeze until ready to use. Freeze any leftover ice cream in an airtight container for future use.

To prepare the wafers: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the sugar, corn syrup and butter for 3 minutes. Mix in the pine nuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto the parchment paper, leaving space for them to spread, and bake until golden. While the wafers are still hot, cut into perfect rounds with a 2 or 2-1/2-inch cookie cutter, pulling away the trimmings. Let cool, then gently lift and store in an airtight container.

To prepare the blueberry caramel: Put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and cook to 230 F on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage). Stir in blueberries and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until the berries release their color. Adjust with water to desired thickness.

To serve: Slice each strawberry vertically into four pieces. Remove the molds from the freezer and let them warm slightly. Lightly dust one end of oblong dessert plates, or one side of round plates, with confectioner´s sugar. Unmold an ice cream pyramid onto the dusted portion of each plate. Lean a strawberry slice against each side of the pyramids. Stand a wafer in the top of each. Spoon blueberry caramel on the other side of each plate, drawing through it with a toothpick or the sharp point of a knife to create a sunburst effect.

Browned Cream Cheese Omelet with Vanilla Sauce and Cherries
Reinhard Gerer
KORSO bei der Oper
Bristol Hotel
Vienna, Austria

Forget all about breakfast: here is a better use for eggs. This sweet omelet, made with the traditional cheesecake combination of cream cheese, sour cream, and lemon zest, is a fluffy alternative to heavy desserts. Simple vanilla sauce and fresh cherries poached with cinnamon and Kirschwasser are the perfect accompaniments.

Serves 4 to 5

• Cherries
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup sugar
• One 3-inch piece cinnamon bark
• 3/4 pound cherries, stemmed and pitted
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons Kirschwasser (cherry brandy)

Vanilla Sauce

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons rum
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon heavy (whipping) cream
• 4 extra-large eggs, separated
• Pinch of salt
• 32 ounces cream cheese or white cheese (fromage blanc) at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• Two 2-inch pieces lemon zest, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• Confectioner´s sugar for dusting

To prepare the cherries: Heat the red wine, sugar, and cinnamon together in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and stir in the cornstarch and Kirschwasser. Add the cherries and simmer until slightly softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside and keep warm.

To prepare the vanilla sauce: Put the cream and sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the cream; drop in the pod. – Stir to blend. While the cream is heating, stir the egg yolks, rum, and cornstarch together in a bowl. When the cream reaches a boil, remove from heat. Whisk a large spoonful of the hot cream into the egg mixture to temper, then pour the egg mixture into the hot cream while whisking to blend. Return to the heat and stir gently until the mixture thickens slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve and set aside, keeping it – warm over warm water or in an insulated container.

To prepare the omelet: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites stiff with the pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, lemon zest, sugar, vanilla sugar, and flour. Mix briefly until smooth. Gently fold a large spoonful of meringue into the cheese mixture to lighten, then gently fold in the remaining meringue in two additions.

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in an ovenproof medium omelet pan or saute pan over medium heat; tilt the pan to spread the butter over the entire bottom of the pan. Pour the omelet batter into the pan and place over the heat for 1 minute to set. Place in the oven and bake 8 minutes. Dot the remaining butter over the top. Using two spatulas, turn the omelet over in the pan and bake 6 more minutes. Remove from the oven and tear the omelet apart with two forks. Dust with confectioner´s sugar and put back in the oven for 2 more minutes to caramelize the sugar.

To serve: Stir the heavy cream into the vanilla sauce. Slip the omelet out of the pan onto a warmed serving platter, browned side up. Spoon vanilla sauce on the plate around the omelet. Spoon cherries over and around the omelet. Garnish with mint leaves.

Chef Jimmy Schmidt may well smack me upside the head for saying so, but Crème Brûlée must never be embellished. Crème Brûlée is elegant in its simplicity and must remain the happy marriage of eggs, cream, and sugar. Is that polygamy? …

Chef Jimmy Schmidt may well smack me upside the head for saying so, but Crème Brûlée must never be embellished. Crème Brûlée is elegant in its simplicity and must remain the happy marriage of eggs, cream, and sugar. Is that polygamy? …