Plenty of ice-creams inspire nostalgia, but Strawberry Splits, with strawberry ice encasing a creamy centre, are true favourites. For a play on the combination, we’ve set panna cotta in glasses on their sides, then topped them up with a strawberry jelly. Layer the jelly onto the panna cotta horizontally if setting it on an angle seems a bridge too far – they’ll be no less delicious.
Ingredients
Crème fraîche panna cotta
Strawberry jelly
Method
1.To prepare jelly moulds, cover two-thirds of the top of each of six 225ml glasses (see note) tightly with plastic wrap, securing the wrap under the base of glasses, then chill. (This is to hold the panna cotta in place as it sets.)
2.For crème fraîche panna cotta, whisk crème fraîche and cream in a large bowl until smooth. Bring sugar, lemon rind, vanilla and 60ml water to a simmer in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar, then remove from heat. Squeeze excess water from gelatine, add to syrup and stir to dissolve, then whisk syrup into crème fraîche mixture, whisking until light and aerated (1 minute). Cool briefly, then transfer to a jug with a large spout. With the glasses resting on their side on a tray of scrunched foil holding them in place, carefully pour in panna cotta to half-fill each. Refrigerate until almost set (3-3½ hours).
3.For strawberry jelly, stir sugar, wine and 400ml water in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes. Add strawberries and cook until pulpy (4-5 minutes). Remove from heat and whisk to break down strawberries a little, then transfer to a fine sieve over a bowl and leave to drain without pressing on solids (30 minutes to 1 hour).
4.Transfer liquid to a saucepan and bring to a simmer, then simmer until reduced to 650ml (10-20 minutes). Remove from heat, squeeze excess water from gelatine, add to pan and stir to dissolve. Pour into a bowl set over ice and stir until chilled (10-15 minutes). Skim bubbles from the top of jelly, then turn glasses upright in the fridge, carefully divide strawberry jelly among them and refrigerate to set (at least 3 hours or overnight).
5.Serve strawberry splits topped with sliced strawberries.
With this size of glass the panna cotta and jelly will reach the top; if you use larger glasses, partially fill them with panna cotta mixture, then arrange them on an angle, rather than sealing the top with plastic wrap, to give you a diagonal split.
Notes
