Raspberry Pate de Fruit

Whenever I'm down on M Street in Georgetown, I always enjoy strolling through Dean & Deluca to admire all the lovely and decadent chocolates, marzipan animals, macarons and pate de fruit. The pate de fruits are always luscious looking yet so expensive and I thought they can't be too difficult to make. 

The holidays seemed like a perfect time to try making them myself. I tried raspberry for a nice deep red color and raspberries have to be one of my favorite flavors too. I used this Food & Wine recipe by Jacque Pepin. 

It held together quite nicely after the gelatin set.

I cut several small pieces and found it easiest to wet the knife in hot water in between.

I rolled each piece in sugar and put them on a tray.  While they turned out quite nice, they were a bit too moist to package and give as little gifts. However, we enjoyed them with blue cheese and wine and it was a fabulous combination. 

Lime Mascarpone Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

This is my kind of jello. I have never much cared for actual Jell-O growing up and have always preferred more creamy gelatin desserts like this panna cotta. I was locked up inside one weekend this past summer when we had a hurricane rolling through, so I decided to make an amazing dinner for Miss A and I along with this yummy dessert. 

The recipe called for pouring it into small champagne glasses. But, I much prefer the look of the panna cotta displayed on its own outside of the confines of a glass. I've had all kinds of little stainless steel molds, so I tried a few different ones.  The one that worked the best is the small brioche mold.

I love mascarpone cheese. It just looks so velvety.

This was the mascarpone-gelatin mixture with some grated lime peel.

I filled up the molds and ended up having to use one glass. Then, they chilled for the afternoon while we watched the storm brew outside.

My final product all speckled with grated lime peel.

I made the warm raspberry sauce to pour over the panna cotta and it was a perfect combination of cold and warm on a stormy day.

Recipe for Lime Mascarpone Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

From Bon Appétit

Ingredients:

6 T. fresh lime juice, divided

1 1/2 t. grated lime peel

1 t. unflavored gelatin

1 1/4 cups whipping cream, divided

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1 T. butter

1 1/2 6-ounce containers raspberries (about 2 cups)

1 lime

Directions:

Combine 1/4 cup juice and peel in small saucepan; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup cream to gelatin mixture; stir over low heat just until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat.

Whisk mascarpone and 1/2 cup sugar in medium bowl; gradually whisk in remaining 1 cup cream until smooth. Whisk gelatin mixture into cream mixture. Pour into 6 widemouthed Champagne glasses, small wineglasses or small molds. Chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight. If you used tin molds, run the outside under warm water (but not hot) and turn them out on the plate.

Sauce:

Stir remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1/4 cup sugar, and butter in large skillet over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Cool 2 minutes. Fold in berries; spoon over desserts. Grate peel from 1 lime directly over desserts.