A light, creamy, wobble of heaven that combines one of Scotland’s most famous tastes (whisky) with its most recognisable smell (lavender). The panna cotta is inspired by Edinburgh chef Tom Kitchen’s banquet menu while the gorgeous buttery lavender shortbreads were first discovered by Dom in Sally Clarke’s beautiful cookbook 30 Ingredients while cooking in Ireland. They are both exquisite.
Ingredients
Serves 6
- 1tbsp finely chopped lavender blossom (about three heads)
- 175g golden caster sugar, plus a little for sprinkling
- 200g unsalted butter, soft
- 300g plain flour
- Pinch of salt
- 190ml whole milk
- 190ml double cream
- 105g white caster sugar
- 4.5 leaves gelatine
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 75ml whisky
- 4 large oranges, 2 of them segmented and the other 2 juiced
- 150ml water
- Mint leaves
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160C
- Mix the lavender with 100g of the sugar and cream into the butter until light. Sieve the flour and salt together into the butter and mix to form a soft dough. Wrap and chill for 1-2 hours.
- Roll the dough to about 5mm thick and cut into 3-4cm diameter discs (use a shot glass, or small coffee cup if you don’t have a cutter). Lay on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Sprinkle a little sugar on the top and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden. Leave to cool, during which time the shortbreads will become crisp.
- Once cooled, crumble four of the biscuits and set to one side. You should have 12-15 left. Put these in a container and save them to accompany a cup of tea tomorrow. They’ll keep for up to a week.
- Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft. Squeeze out any excess liquid.
- Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed pan on a low heat warm the milk, cream and white sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Add the gelatine and leave to cool for about 30 minutes.
- Add the lemon juice and whiskey to the liquid, stir, and pour into six moulds or glasses. Leave in the fridge to set for about 3 hours.
- Squeeze the juice of one orange and set aside the juice.
- In a heavy bottomed pan, warm the remaining 75g of golden caster sugar. After 2-3 minutes, add a little orange juice and then water, being careful not to let the caramel split. Continue adding the orange juice and water then boil for about 3 minutes.
- To assemble, place the glass of panna cotta on the plate or turn out the mould, place three orange segments to the side, and assemble a line or mound of the crumbled shortbread. Drizzle caramel over the panna cotta and orange segments and sprinkle some chopped mint leaves over the plate.