Jackfruit Panna Cotta Topped with Jackfruit in Muscovado Syrup

I bought several cans of jackfruit and a bottle of jackfruit essence from the Filipino market last week so I decided to make some jackfruit panna cotta today. Jackfruit is very common in the Philippines. The ripened fruit is sweet and can be etean raw or stewed in sugar syrup which can be served as a snack or sandwich filling. The unripe fruit are used in savory dishes such as stew and soup as well as appetizer or salad. For as long as I have been here in the States, I have yet to find a fresh jackfruit. Most of it is sold canned (ripe and unripe) or frozen. While they do taste okay, I think that nothing compares to the fresh fruits. The huge seeds can be boiled with the skin still on. It is slightly starchy and taste somewhat similar to chestnut.

In the Philippines, jackfruit are often sold at the wet market and large grocery chains. I remember though that we had a huge jackfruit tree in our backyard along with other trees like guava, santol (wild mangosteen) and banana trees as well a variety of tropical plants. Having a huge backyard is one of the things that I miss in the Philippines :(

Anyways, jackfruit panna cotta is made using a basic panna cotta recipe but instead of using vanilla, I used jackfruit essence and then topped it with jackfruit in muscovado syrup. The result is a nice constrast of black and white color which tasted really great. This version of my panna cotta is a little richer than my previous panna cotta recipes because I used a combination of heavy cream and half &half instead of the usual heavy cream/milk misture that I usually use.

Ingredients:

Panna Cotta:

Panna Cottta:
2 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 Tbsp water
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp jackfruit essence or extract

1. Sprinkle gelatin over 1 Tbsp water and let it soften for about 10 minutes
2. Heat a pan over medium low heat. Add cream, half & half, and sugar. Simmer (do not boil) until sugar is dissolved, stirring occassionally.
3. Remove from heat and stir in jackfruit essence/extract and gelatin mixture. Mix until gelatin is dissolved completely.
4. Strain the panna cotta mixture and pour into ramekins or individual serving container. Let it cool before covering ramekins with plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
6. Top with jackfruit slices in muscovado syrup.

Jackfruit in muscovado syrup

Ingredients:

1 cup sliced jackfruit
1 cup muscovado or brown sugar (if you prefer)
1/2 cup water

1. Heat saucepan over medium heat.
2. Combine muscovado or brown sugar and water. Stir to dissolve mucovado or brown sugar.
3. Let it simmer until it forms a syrup.
4. Add sliced of jackfruit and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Avocado Mousse

The avocado that I bought has gently ripened so I decided to make avocado mousse. This is quite simple and requires just four ingredients. The outcome though is great because it was light and delicious. The lightness is due to the incorporation of whipped cream into the avocado mixture. If you do not have a food processor, You can mash together all the ingredients (except cream) using fork until it reaches a pureed consistency. Make sure though that the sugar has dissolved well.


Avocado is one of those fruits that is common in the Philippines though we have several different varieties that are usually bigger in size compared to the ones that are found here in the States. We have a sticky variety whose peel remains green even though it is fully ripe. That one is not very common though even in the Philippine but the taste is really nice. When I was young, we used to take ripened avocado and mash it with forks together with condensed milk and then place it in the freezer to let it harden a little. Yummy...


Up until the latter part of last year, I have not bought any avocado since I moved here int eh States. I've had avocado as a guacamole which we buy but never have made any or used avocado myself for nearly 17 years. I do not know why but the avocado sold in the supermarket just looked weird to me. I somehow thought it would taste different than what I have remembered. Then I found an avocado salad recipe which I really liked so I bought some ripe avocado. I laughed because they just look so tiny compared to the ones we have in the Philippines. When made and tasted the salad, it reminded me of how great avocado taste. Since that time, I have been experimenting on different avocado dishes and this is one of the avocado dishes that I really liked. Silly me...

Ingredients:

2 Ripe avocado
1/2 cup evaporated milk
sugar, according to desired sweetness
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Cut avocado in half, remove stone and scrape flesh off the peel.
2. Place avocado in a food processor then add evaporated milk and sugar.
3. Process until smooth then transfer to a bowl and set aside.
4. Whip cream until it forms soft peaks.
5. Gently fold whipped cream into the avocado mixture and transfer to individual serving dish.
6. Refrigerate until well chilled before serving.
7. Top with whipped cream, if desired.