Tag Archive for: coeliac friendly dessert

Saffron and Kefir Panna Cotta with Inulin

Saffron and Kefir Panna Cotta with Inulin is a dessert that combines the pleasure of tradition with ingredients selected for their functional properties. The signature creaminess of panna cotta is enhanced by the intense aroma of saffron and the slightly tangy freshness of kefir, creating an elegant and surprising balance of flavours.

The star ingredient of this recipe is Italian saffron, one of the world’s most prized spices. Cultivated in several regions of Italy, it is renowned for the exceptional quality of its stigmas, which are still largely harvested by hand. In addition to providing its characteristic golden colour and unmistakable aroma, saffron naturally contains bioactive compounds that make it an especially interesting ingredient from a nutritional perspective.

What makes this panna cotta even more special is the addition of kefir, a fermented food that provides beneficial microorganisms which help support gut microbiota health. I have also included inulin, a prebiotic fibre that selectively nourishes beneficial gut bacteria and helps slow the absorption of sugars, promoting a more gradual glycaemic response.

For those who prefer not to use sugar, the panna cotta can also be sweetened with a sugar substitute, using the amount recommended by the manufacturer for equivalent sweetness. The quantity of gelatine should not need to be adjusted.

The result is a delicate, fragrant and naturally functional Saffron and Kefir Panna Cotta, designed for those who want to enjoy an indulgent yet mindful dessert, proving once again that flavour and wellbeing can happily coexist in the same spoonful.

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Saffron and Kefir Panna Cotta with Inulin

20 g carbohydrates per 100 g without amaretti biscuits

Ingredients

  • 250 g plain kefir
  • 250 g milk
  • 250 g cream
  • 150 g sugar
  • 15 g gelatine sheets*
  • 10 g inulin*
  • 20 saffron threads
  • Sassello amaretti biscuits*

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Method

  1. Soak the saffron threads in the lukewarm milk for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water until softened.
  3. Mix the sugar and inulin together. Pour in the milk and cream, stirring well, then transfer everything to a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the squeezed gelatine and stir until fully dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
  4. Add the kefir and mix well. Pour the mixture into a ring-shaped silicone mould and refrigerate for several hours until set.
  5. Turn the panna cotta out onto a serving plate and decorate with crumbled Sassello amaretti biscuits before serving.

 

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Lombardy – Mamma Giovanna’s Gluten-free Bread Cake

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Giro d’Italia in 20 recipes

Mamma Giovanna’s Gluten-free Bread Cake

Some recipes are not “just” desserts. They are family photographs, inherited gestures, silent comforts that come back to life the moment a familiar scent fills the kitchen.

For the Lombardy stage of my Giro d’Italia in 20 Recipes, I asked my friend Simonetta which recipe she has missed the most since being diagnosed with coeliac disease. With palpable emotion, Simonetta told me about her recipe of the heart: Bread Cake, the cake her mum Giovanna used to make for her, using bread—even leftover bread—and just a few simple ingredients, as was once the tradition.

Torta Paesana is a dessert rooted in rural cooking, born from the art of wasting nothing and turning what you had in the pantry into something special: bread, milk, eggs, cocoa, dried fruit, biscuits… and that unmistakable “home” aroma that lingers in your memory.

Simonetta’s story really moved me. Since her coeliac diagnosis, she has never found the courage to remake this cake in a gluten-free version.
Not because she doesn’t miss it—quite the opposite—but because some recipes are so deeply tied to memories that the fear of “getting them wrong” can be overwhelming. And so, even today, she still prepares it with regular bread for her husband and friends, choosing not to taste it herself.

This is exactly where the meaning of this project comes in: giving people with coeliac disease back the pleasure of their heart recipes, those that seemed lost forever, the ones that nourish not only the body but also the soul.

I made Simonetta a promise: I will bring her my gluten-free Bread Cake to taste, hoping not to disappoint her and to rekindle the joy she felt as a child.

Ilaria-bertinelli-torta-paesana

Mamma Giovanna’s Gluten-free Bread Cake

32.5g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 1–1.5 litres milk
  • 1 small glass anise liqueur*
  • 330g soft amaretti biscuits* (Sassello-style)
  • 50g unsweetened cocoa powder*
  • 50g sweetened cocoa powder*
  • 50g raisins
  • 30g pine nuts
  • 100g plain dry biscuits** (Oro Saiwa-style)
  • 200g milk rolls**
  • 2 eggs
  • 40g melted butter
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 1 sachet baking powder*
  • lemon zest
  • icing sugar* (optional)
  • a pinch of salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Soak the bread in a large bowl with 1 litre of hot milk (add more if needed). Ideally, do this the evening before baking the cake, or in any case leave it long enough for the bread to completely break down.
  2. Once the bread has fully softened, add the finely crumbled amaretti and biscuits, the well-beaten eggs, melted butter, baking powder, pine nuts, raisins, lemon zest and a pinch of salt.
  3. Line a 26 cm cake tin with baking paper that has been dampened and squeezed dry. Pour in the mixture and bake in a preheated static oven at 200°C (390°F) for about 1 hour.
  4. The cake should be soft and fragrant. Dust the surface with icing sugar to cover any cracks that may form on top during baking.

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