Strawberry and lavender panna cotta is a taste of spring, a floral infusion from lavender buds and blushing pink strawberries.

Plant-based panna cottas are commonly made with plant milk. Panna cotta is a simple dessert, a softly set pudding that’s usually made with cream, sugar and gelatin. The earliest recipes from Piedmont, Northern Italy in Piedmont mention simmering the cream with fish bones, the collagen that would set the cream. The name panna cotta literally means cooked cream. This panna cotta’s fruity flavour comes from a blended fruit and a floral infusion and plant cream and is set with agar powder, a jelly-like substance from algae that can be bought from most health food stores. The amount of agar powder should be carefully measured to avoid a rubbery texture from using even a little too much agar agar or a runny panna cotta from measuring too little.

Agar powder has no taste, odour or colour, sets more firmly than gelatine. It’s best to set agar panna cottas in the fridge as it’s a high protein food. Panna cotta will collapse if shaken, stirred or disturbed before they set completely.

If your panna cotta doesn’t set, the great thing about agar powder is you can boil it again, so if your panna cotta hasn’t set after a couple of hours, boil the mixture again and it should set almost immediately.

Health benefits:

·       There are over 600 varieties of strawberries. The sweet, slightly tart berries rank among the top 10 fruits and vegetables for antioxidant content.

·       A Harvard study found that regular consumption flavonoids found in berries can reduce the risk of a heart attack by 32 percent in young and middle-aged women.

·       The antioxidants in strawberries have all been shown to reduce the formation of harmful blood clots associated with strokes. The powerful antioxidants in strawberries may work against free radicals, inhibiting tumor growth and decreasing inflammation in the body.

LAVENDER PANNA COTTA w STRAWBERRY SAUCE

Makes 6 glasses

PB, V, DF

2 cups (500 ml.) @flora thickened plant cream

1 cup (250 ml.) full cream coconut milk

¼ cup (50 g) unrefined sugar

5 lavender buds or 1 tsp (1 g) dried lavender

1 tsp (2.5 g) agar powder

1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract

½ cup (140 g) sliced strawberries

Topping:

coconut yogurt

fresh strawberries

fresh lavender sprigs

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and whisk to mix together. On medium heat, bring the cream to the boil, stirring intermittently. Turn the heat down to simmer. Simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla and pinch of salt. Place 6 glasses on an enamel tray. Pour the mixture through a sieve into individual glasses halfway and cool for 10 minutes. Add the strawberries to the blender and blend until smooth. Pour the strawberry mixture on top of the panna cotta. Every batch is different, chill and set for 2-4 hours in the fridge.

Serve with cut fresh strawberries and a few sprigs of lavender on dollops of coconut yogurt.