Devilishly Delicious Deserts: Panna Cotta

   To conclude my mini series of speedy delicious deserts, I give you Panna Cotta. I didn't make any additions to this one, the sour cherry coulis did all the work.

Panna Cotta

(serves 6-8)

     500ml Devilishly Delicious Panna Cotta

     Devilishly Delicious sour cherry coulis

Pour the desert pack into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil vigorously for 2 minutes. Pour into jelly moulds and chill for 2 hours (I left mine overnight to save time, again!).

To serve, upturn onto a plate and drizzle with coulis, a sprig of mint and a dusting of icing sugar.

   I've been trying to work out which is my favourite of the four deserts; Limoncello syllabubs, chocolate Amaretto pots, chocolate orange crème brûlée or these panna cottas. It really is a tough choice. There's so much scope with these desert packs to be as simple or as creative as you like. I'm officially stocking up for a rainy day to try different flavour combinations.

   Devilishly Delicious Deserts are a unique company that make restaurant quality desert packs for consumers to make up at home. Their deserts are totally free of artificial colours and flavourings and are gluten free and vegetarian. All you do is heat, chill and serve. The creative part is entirely up to you!

To find where your local stockist is, look here.

Devilishly Delicious Deserts: Chocolate Orange Crème Brûlée

Another weekend rolls around and another excuse for desert. Not that I will ever complain. 

   I took these crème brûlées to my Grandparent's yesterday for an Easter Monday feast. My Grandmother made a Goan chicken curry and dahl which was amazing. I've yet to try dahl better than hers...feel free to send your versions for us to test and compare!

Chocolate orange crème brûlées

(serves 4-6)

     500ml Devilishly Delicious Crème Brûlée

     50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

     zest and juice 1 orange

Pour the crème brûlée pack and chocolate pieces into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring regularly until the chocolate is fully melted. Add the zest and orange juice and stir well. Pour into ramekins or serving dishes and chill for 2 hours (I leave them to chill overnight to save time).

To serve I sprinkled with Demerara sugar and caramelised with a blow torch, you can also do this under a medium grill for 2-3 minutes.

   I've really enjoyed testing out these desert packs from Devilishly Delicious and trying my own variations. If you've missed any of my previous posts on them, then you can find Limoncello syllabubs here and chocolate Amaretto pots here.

   I've spotted these on my travels in my local Lakeland, but you can find your closest stockist here.

Stay tuned - I shall be posting my last desert on Thursday, panna cotta.

Devilishly Delicious Deserts: Chocolate Amaretto Pots

Following on from my previous post on these deserts, here's my recipe for chocolate amaretto pots.

Chocolate Amaretto pots
(serves 8-10)
     500ml Devilishly Delicious Pot au Chocolat
     50ml Amaretto liqueur
Pour the chocolate pot pack into a pan and bring to the boil, ensuring to stir regularly. Fold in the Amaretto and pour the mix into your chosen desert pot. Chill for 1-2 hours, or even overnight.

   I made these chocolate pots two ways; in espresso mugs decorated with curls of chocolate and some fresh mint, and in jam jars with a sprinkling of Amaretti biscuits on top and a drizzle of Devilishly Delicious sour cherry coulis.

   I enjoyed thinking of different ideas as to how to best use and present these deserts. The Amaretto is entirely optional, but next time I was thinking of upping the amount used to serve them in the espresso mugs as chocolate shots.

   My previous post explains more about these deserts but you can find them online, in Waitrose and Lakeland and they have a range of different deserts to suit any desert lover.

   I still have Panna Cotta and Créme Brûlée to use...best get planning some ideas as to how I'm going to make them even fancier!

Devilishly Delicious Deserts: Limoncello Syllabub

   I really love spending time in the kitchen, but sometimes I just don't have the time or energy to spend stirring, whisking and folding. On Saturday night, I really was not in the right frame of mind to be creating fancy deserts for visiting family members. Instead, I spent 10 minutes making a Limoncello Syllabub. Sounds impressive, I know...

Limoncello Syllabubs
(serves 6-8)
     500ml Devilishly Delicious Sicilian Lemon Pot
     250g Mascarpone
     75ml Limoncello (or similar)
Pour the lemon pot pack into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer on a low heat for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the Limoncello and mascarpone until soft peaks are formed. Fold the lemon into the cream and pour the mix into desert pots or ramekins. Leave to chill for 2 hours, or even overnight.

Just before serving, I swirled some lemon curd on each, sprinkled with lemon zest, blueberries and mint leaves to finish.

Within minutes, my family had finished these and no one even suspected that they were a vegetarian and gluten free desert. If I hadn't have told them, they wouldn't have even doubted that I'd made them.

These syllabubs were so light and fresh, perfect after a big meal. The Limoncello cuts through the cream and gives a strong lemon warmth. My family are Limoncello fans and always order a desert similar to this at our favourite local Italian restaurant, their only comment...next time more Limoncello! It is entirely optional though, as is the mascarpone.

Devilishly Delicious are a brand that create restaurant quality desert packs for consumers to be able to create their own deserts at home. All you do for each desert is heat in the pan for a few minutes, pour into ramekins and chill for 2 hours. But, you really have the chance to get creative.

The four desert packs in the range include; Sicilian Lemon Pot, Pot au Chocolat, Crème Brûlée and Panna Cotta. They also have a range of fruit coulis available in; Mango, Sour Cherry, Raspberry and Green Apple.

You can find them in Lakeland, selected Waitrose stores or Ocado online. Alternatively, use their store locator found here.

Although Devilishly Delicious kindly sent me these sweet treats, I really enjoyed both the making and eating of them. I can honestly say that I am going to buy some and keep them in the cupboard for those last minute moments. And for every other moment because I've been dreaming of their chocolate pots ever since...

Next, I'll post my Amaretto Chocolate pot recipe!