Cooking With Beer – Sierra Nevada Strawberries & Crème Panna Cotta

Festive foods take on new meaning when made with serious beer. And who doesn’t like a light and creamy summertime dessert made with fruit marinated in a delicately crafted fruit-forward ale?

Panna cotta is a wonderfully light dessert to enjoy in the heat of summer. But when you pair the smooth creamy crème fraiche pannacotta with beer-marinated strawberries, black peppercorn crumble and a hint of lemon zest it creates a delightfully complex flavor profile that’s not too sweet and slightly sour.

This tasty recipe comes our way from Sierra Nevada Brewing and it’s made with fresh strawberries marinated in the brewery’s Wild Little Thing Slightly Sour Ale, an uber-delicious 5.5% ABV sweet and sour refresher with bright guava, hibiscus and strawberry notes.

So let’s do this!

Wild Little Strawberries & Crème Panna Cotta

Crème Fraîche Pannacotta

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 2/3 cup crème fraîche
• 4 sheets gelatin

Black Peppercorn Crumble

Ingredients

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground
• 4 oz unsalted butter (1 stick), cold

Wild Little Thing Marinated Strawberries

Ingredients

• 12 fl oz Wild Little Thing Slightly Sour Ale
• 2 fl oz red wine vinegar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 lb strawberries
• Zest of ½ a lemon
• Basil microgreens, optional

 Directions

Step 1

Combine the heavy cream, milk, sugar and crème fraîche in a medium sauce pot and place over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Bloom gelatin in cold water for 1 minute, squeeze out extra moisture and add, stir gently until dissolved. Pour ½ cup into each serving vessel and chill 4-6 hours.

Step 2

Whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, sugar, kosher salt, and coarsely ground black peppercorns until thoroughly combined. Dice the butter and keep cold. Add the dry ingredients to a food processor with the diced butter and pulse until it has a sandy consistency. Place the mixture in a bowl and press together until you form a dough ball. Crumble onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350° for 8 minutes. Edges will be browned, but the texture will still be soft. The crumble will crisp up as it cools to room temperature.

Step 3

Combine Wild Little Thing Sour Ale, red wine vinegar and sugar to a medium pot and heat over medium-high until reduced to a light syrup, approximately 2/3rds and chill. While the syrup is reducing, wash and dice the strawberries. Combine chilled Wild Little Thing Sour Ale syrup, strawberries and lemon zest and stir to combine.

Step 4

Once panna cotta is set, top with strawberries and black peppercorn crumble. Garnish with basil microgreens.

Step 5

Pour a glass of Sierra Nevada Wild Little Thing Slightly Sour Ale and enjoy!

 

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(Image credits: Sierra Nevada Brewing)