Experimenting with Lakeland's Agar Agar (part one)

For those who haven't used or heard about it before, Agar Agar is a vegetarian gelatin substitute produced from a variety of seaweed vegetation. It can be used in a variety of dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan recipes as a stabilizing and thickening agent.

I have never used it before, heck I've barely used gelatin before, so it was time to have a play with new recipes.

I decided on giving panna cotta a try. It was MUCH easier than I thought.



This is the recipe I used:

Panna Cotta
360ml full fat milk
120ml whipping cream
2 tsp agar agar powder
2-3 tsp vanilla bean paste
Strawberry coulis (recipe further down)

And the method:

1. Put the milk, cream, agar agar powder and vanilla bean paste into a pan.
2. Heat the mixture over a medium heat until the agar agar powder has fully dissolved, stirring occasionally.
3. Heat to boiling point and let it bubble for a minute or two, then remove from the heat.
4. Let it stand for about ten minutes, then pour into 4 ramekin dishes or bowls.
5. When cool, refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set.
6. To release the panna cotta, run around the edge of it with a silicone spatula or sharp knife, place a plate upside down on top of the dish, and turn the plate and dish upside down to transfer the panna cotta on to the plate.

7. Pour the coulis around the panna cotta and serve cold.

Strawberry coulis
125ml water
125g caster sugar
300g hulled and halves strawberries

Method
1. Bring the water and caster sugar to the boil and stir, making sure the sugar is dissolved.
2. Add the strawberries and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the strawberries have softened.
3. Puree the mixture, and strain through a sieve.
4. Store the puree in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Looks yummy doesn't it? I could just eat the bit on that spoon. You know...just to test it....

 

Mmmmmmmmm!!!


A very easy recipe, but impressive- one that could be used to impress the in laws if the occasion required it!

And here's a sneak peek of experimenting with agar agar part 2!

Any guesses what I made this time??

You can buy agar agar from Lakeland here.


I was given the agar agar product to use by Lakeland, but all views are my own.


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