And for dessert?

Your guests have already eaten the appetizers, paid tribute to the hot meal and are demanding to continue the feast? Store-bought cakes are a familiar, but far from perfect holiday finishes. Use a blender, food processor or a mixer and dazzle your guests with homemade desserts.

Panacotta

This is probably one of the most popular desserts in Italy. The word itself means “boiled cream”, which is not quite accurate, because you don’t need to boil the cream – just bring it to the boil, warm it up, but not boil it! By the way, a friend of mine who is from the American North tasted panacotta in an Italian restaurant, reasonably noticed that in their region of Vologda this dish is called “milky kissel”. Ah, what cunning Italians are – beautifully named and beautifully served!

Vanilla Panacotta Classic

This recipe is the basis of almost all variations on the theme of panacotta. Interpretations are possible when serving: you turn it and pour coconut syrup on it – coconut pananacotta, put chopped fresh strawberries on top – strawberry, add bananas and mint – it gets even more complicated name… Pananacotta is also served with sauces: chocolate, almond, apricot, coffee. By the way, it’s easy to make coffee panacotta: add whole coffee beans to the cream when making it, and then take them out.

You will need:

– 400 ml cream of at least 33% fat

– 150 ml granulated sugar

– 2 yolks

– 1 vanilla pod or 1 bag of vanilla sugar or a little vanilla essence

– 15 g of gelatin

Soak some gelatin in 50 ml of cream, bring the rest of the cream to a boil together with sugar and vanilla over a low heat. It is important to stir the mass, otherwise it will inevitably stick, run away, and so on! Add the cream and gelatin to the main mixture, stir it and cool it down to 50-60 degrees. Put the container with the creamy mixture on ice or in cold water and whip with a mixer. Put fruit, berries, and chocolate in panacotta cups, pour in creamy mixture, and place in refrigerator for 3 hours.

Sambuche

An indispensable ingredient for sambucas is egg whites whipped with sugar. They are mixed with fruit or berry puree, added gelatin, spices and refrigerated, and sometimes baked. The frozen whites give the sambuc a consistency similar to marshmallows.

Sambuche “In the apple!”

Even a ballerina could be served with this easy dessert. The main thing is that afterwards she won’t want to change her repertoire: say, instead of the “Dying Swan” she will dashingly dance “Yablochko”.

Needed:

– Eight sweet and sour apples

– 1 cup sugar

– cinnamon to taste

– 4 egg whites

– 15 grams of gelatin

– A handful of almonds

Cut an apple into thin slices, put it in a saucepan, pour three tablespoons of sugar on it and keep it on the fire until it melts. Wrap the rest of the apples in foil and bake in the oven until soft. In the meantime, soak the gelatin in cold boiled water and leave until it swells, then bring the liquid to a boil and cool. Peel the apples and puree them in a blender or mixer. Gradually add the sugar, cinnamon and egg whites, continuing to whisk. When the mass has tripled in volume, add the gelatin. Beat for another minute, spread the mass into molds or creams and send it to freeze in the refrigerator. Sprinkle the finished dessert with cinnamon and place a slice of caramelized apple and one almond nut on top.

Sambuche “Dedication to Sophia Loren.”

The movie diva eats pineapple – everyone knows that. Let’s try to make a dessert in her honor, and at the same time in our own, because it’s our beauty that will win. Pineapples are more readily available in canned form, but you can also take fresh fruit – if you can.

You’ll need:

– 1 can of canned pineapple or 1 fresh fruit

– 3 egg whites

– 15g gelatin

– ½ cup granulated sugar

– Lemon or orange peel

Soak the gelatin in a little cold water. Grind pineapple pulp in a blender until pureed. Beat the egg whites and sugar separately, add the grated lemon zest and the gelatin soaked in cold water. Combine everything and mix gently, without destroying the structure of the whites. Next, place the sambuca in the muffins and chill until completely hardened. Decorate – no, not with a photo of the actress, but with orange or lemon zest.