Monday, March 21, 2011

Resilience - Sakura Project-Last day for Japan Earthquake Relief Give-away

Chika's fundraising give-away closes today West Coast Time around midnight.

Please consider donating/signing up for the Japan Earthquake Relief. 

In keeping with the theme of Sakura (cherry blossoms),  I made a Sakura panna cotta. I did spy panna cotta on Chika's blog, but I've decided to change it up a bit. (Partially because the strawberries in California are....mediocre at best, and more like, I just don't do rhubarb)

I also have to admit that cherry blossom flavoring and cherry leaf flavoring is really really powerful, and a bit overwhelming at times. However, used sparingly, the fragrance can be just as subtle and sweet as an orchard full of blooming trees.  


In my panna cotta, I've infused a cherry tea from Lupicia Tea called Cerisier to the milk/cream mixture.


This tea is quite sweet and fragrant, more of cherries than of cherry blossom. Just the way I like it!

I contemplated what type of sugar to use to flavor the cream. 
Brown sugar would be too overwhelming, granulated sugar would be too straight forward in the sweetness, and honey would be just too cloying.

I decided to use wasanbon in keeping with the Japanese theme of this no-longer just Italian dessert. 




For the sakura component, I made a sauce from salt-cured cherry blossoms (Sakura no shio zuke) and a little bit of raspberry champagne jelly from Robert Lambert. 

The hint of raspberry really brings out the cherry and cherry blossom notes!

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