The final dish was a beautiful, deceptively simple dessert:
Passionfruit Panna Cotta with Lemon and Raspberry Meringues, Oat Crumble, and Flowers.
Beautiful, isn't it?
The panna cotta was made with passionfruit puree. He noted that if fresh passionfruit is used it needs to be heated to deactivate the enzyme that prevents gelling; commercially prepared frozen passionfruit puree has probably been heat-pasteurized so the enzyme will already be deactivated. I've never made panna cotta before, although I've heard about it for years. His instructions were clear enough that I think I'm going to try a version of this for dessert at one of our winter feasts. Gelatin in cold water; heavy cream and granulated sugar heated enough to dissolve the sugar, then cooled before adding the gelatin; passionfruit puree added; the lot poured into molds to set.
The base of the dessert was made from an oat crumble that he'd baked and allowed to cool while the panna cotta was being made. He put plastic wrap, held with a rubber band, at the bottom of each panna cotta mold, then sprinkled enough oat crumble into the ring to cover the bottom. When the panna cotta was ready, he poured about half of the panna cotta into each mold, enough to anchor the crumble, and let that start to set. Then he poured the rest of the panna cotta in and set it to chill and fully set.
To unmold, he removed the plastic and rubber band, set the ring on a plate, then gently warmed it, using a small torch, so the mold would release.
So here's the "deceptively easy" part, and the part I doubt I'll realistically do: he had already piped miniature lemon meringues and raspberry meringues to use as decorations. Each panna cotta got 2 of each of those meringues. The raspberry was sweet and tart; the lemon was tart and sweet; the panna cotta was creamy and sweet; the fresh raspberry garnish set it all off. It was lovely. It was a perfect ending to a delightful class.
Here, to conclude my writeup about the class, I'll turn around and show you a bit of the goodies from The Blue Heron Trading Company. This is the sort of stuff we perused during break time. There's a discount for class-takers on the evening of any given class. I expect they do good business! They always get extra money from me.
I do not have a business affiliation with either The Blue Heron Trading Company or The New Scenic Cafe, but I think they're both wonderful places. If you're ever in Duluth, Minnesota, I recommend you check them out.
