patrícia furtado

“Strawberries and cream” are in season, but I decided to turn things around to “Cream and Strawberries” by using my heart-shaped ice tray from IKEA for something other than ice.

In the end, the mini pannacotta hearts on strawberry sauce require a bit of work, so I don’t blame anyone for just popping them in regular jelly moulds. However, after seeing how extremely cute they were, I thought they were totally worth the effort.

You can make both the hearts and the sauce well in advance. Actually, you need to do them in advance, so they have time to thaw once removed from the moulds.

Creamy hearts in strawberry sauce

For the sauce:
2 cups pureed strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbsp Corn flour
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Dissolve the powdered gelatin in a few tablespoons of cold water and let it soak for a bit. Mix the sugar with the cream in a saucepan, and bring to the boil. Let it simmer for 3 minutes and then remove from heat. Add the gelatin mixture, stirring until fully mixed. Let it cool for a bit and then pour into the ice trays. Chill and then cover the trays with cling film and freeze until solid.

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan and blend thoroughly. Gradually stir in the water.
Add the pureed strawberries, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Continue to boil about 2 minutes. Pour into serving dishes.

When the sauce is completely cooled, you can remove the ice trays from the freezer. Run them under hot water to help release from the moulds, and them pop them into the sauce. Let them sit in the refrigerator until the hearts thaw completely and regain their jelly softness.

You can use other red fruits for the sauce, raspberry, for instance, is a classic.