This column covered panna cotta, the classic Piedmontese dessert, back in 2011, when your humble columnist was still as fresh and lovely as a buttermilk jelly, if somewhat less wobbly. While I stand by that recipe – it’s a banger, as we definitely wouldn’t have said a decade ago – there’s room for at least one more in my life, particularly if it involves one of my favourite summer fruits.
I concede that raspberries are so perfect straight from the plant (or punnet) that there often seems little point in meddling further, but if you, like me, enjoy their perfumed sweetness gilded with thick cream, then a panna cotta is the logical next step, once you’ve eaten your fill. Their acid edge stops the combination from cloying, as can happen with more straightforwardly sugary fruits, and lifts the dish from the merely rich to the realms of rich and interesting, a bit like an Italian philanthropist who also happens to know quite a lot about wine.
