Limoncello Panna Cotta with Saffron-Lemon Curd & Florentine Cookies

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.
I wanted to make something light and refreshing. I made some macarons and had loads of lemoncurd left from here and so ended up making Limoncello pannacotta layered with saffron-lemoncurd. I was not a big fan of florentine cookies but did love the crunch from my lemon saffron macarons. The pannacotta was perfect with the tangy lemoncurd.

 

Florentine Cookies (adapted from here)

Ingredients
3/4 cup of Sugar
1/4 cup of Honey
4 tablespoons of Butter
1/4 cup of Cream
1/3 cup of sifted plain flour
1/4 cup white sesame seeds
1/2 cup Oats
pinch of Fleur de Sel
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Put sugar, honey, butter & cream into a heavy saucepan over a low heat and stir until butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring from time to time. The mixture should thicken and darken slightly. Stir in the seeds, flour and the fleur de sel. Place half-tablespoon-sized dollops of the mixture on baking trays lined with a slipat or non stick parchment paper. Be sure to leave plenty of room for the cookies to spread. Bake for about 8 minutes until the florentines are evenly dark and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray to cool and harden. Once cool, keep in an airtight container.
Lemon-Saffron Curd 

See recipe from my Lemon cupcakes with Saffron Lemon Curd Buttercream 
Limoncello Panna Cotta
Ingredients
120ml water
12grms powdered gelatin (I have used vegetarian gelatine)
250ml double cream
50grms vanilla sugar
pinch salt
2tbsp limoncello
125ml milk
Method:
Soak the gelatin in enough water. Heat the cream  & milk with the sugar until it just boils, stirring occasionally to make sure the sugar dissolves completely. Off heat, stir in the gelatin until it is completely melted. Add limencello and cool to room temperature.
Lemon-Saffron Macarons
Ingredients
1 aged egg white from XL eggs (47gms)
1 tsp egg white powder
27 gms caster sugar
80 gms powdered sugar
60gms ground almonds
pinch saffron
1/2 tsp lemon zest
pinch yellow colour
Method: 
Pulse the almonds,icing sugar,zest, saffron, food colour in a processor and sieve twice. Set aside. Whip the egg white along with whites powder until foamy and gradually add the caster sugar. Whip until you have peaks and get a hair mousse consistency. Fold the dry ingredients in two goes until you have a mixture that falls in ribbons when the spatula is lifted. Fill a pastry bag with the mixture and pipe circles onto a silpat. Allow to form a skin for about 45-60min. Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 145C. Bake the macarons for 12-15 min depending on the size. Cool on a wire rack and sandwich equal halves with a filling of your choice.
Assembly
Spoon a layer of saffron-lemoncurd onto the serving glasses and freeze for a bit. Pour the prepared pannacotta upto 1/2 the glass and chill till the panna cotta sets. Spoon another layer of saffron-lemoncurd and chill. Top with remaining panna cotta and leave to set in the fridge for 6-8hrs or overnight. Serve with saffron-lemon macarons and florentine cookies.