Spring calls for fresh floral flavors, and when friends invited me to dinner and a walk through the magnolia gardens in the arboretum, and asked that I bring a dessert, I felt like this recipe was the perfect pairing.

I took inspiration from Donna Hay’s cookbook Modern Classics. She makes a peach panna cotta with sliced peaches. I decided to make a jelly of rose water and cardamom on top of vanilla bean panna cotta. It was my first time making it, and I was SO happily surprised by how easy it was. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

We drank a seriously delicious floral beer to go along with it, I can’t remember the name, but it was a 22oz bottle with a rose on it. Track it down. The flavors made each other sing, and us as well!

ROSE CARDAMOM JELLY AND VANILLA BEAN PANNA COTTA

for the jelly

one packet of powdered gelatine

1 1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup organic sugar

1 TB of rose water

1 tsp of ground cardamom

for the panna cotta

2 packets of powdered gelatine

1/3 cup water

3 3/4 cups half and half

1 cup confectioners sugar

1 whole vanilla bean

Fresh strawberries,  sliced and sprinkled with sugar for the center or top.

Put the 1/2 cup of water into a bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over it, stir and set aside. Place the 1 cup of water for the jelly in a saucepan on medium heat and add the sugar. Cook until it is dissolved. Allow to cool slightly before adding the rose water and cardamom. Then add the gelatine mixture to it and stir until combined.

I had these cute little tins I found while thrifting, but you could put them in almost any little dish or container. You want to grease them lightly with vegetable oil before pouring a little of the jelly into each mold. The cardamom will sink to the bottom.

Refrigerate until set, about 1-2 hours.

To make the panna cotta, sprinkle the gelatine over the water and set aside for about 5 minutes. Place the cream and confectioners sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir. Cut open the vanilla bean and scrape out all the delicious little flakes, add these and the bean into the cream. Add the gelatine mixture and stir until dissolved. Remove the vanilla bean shell. Allow to cool to room temperature before pouring over the set jelly and refrigerate for about 6 hours of overnight.

To serve, dip the tins into a baking dish of warm (NOT HOT!) water, and invert onto plates. Arrange the fresh fruit over the top. After our first taste test, I thought a little lemon cookie would also be really tasty with these.

Enjoy!