I cooked on Mother's Day a couple of weeks back and it felt so good to be back in a proper kitchen. We've been living with our two-hob, tiny micro-oven temporary kitchen since the first week of December and whilst it's fine for everyday quick dinner cooking, you really don't want to spend a lot of time in there or be juggling all the pots and pans. So for once I felt inspired to create something special for my lovely Mumma but also my Grandparents, Ben and my Dad. A lot of you requested the recipe after I posted photos on Instagram so you can find it below. It's a recipe I made up from a couple of different ones turned out really well, looks more impressive than the skill behind it and can all be made in advance. 

I love a pudding that can be prepared in advance. If you're cooking for a lot of people, or making a complex main on the day, or simply want to actually be able to relax and talk to everyone then you want something that will take minimal effort on the actual night. So I prepared most of this the night before. I roasted the rhubarb in advance and left it in the fridge overnight and made the pannacottas, they can be left in the fridge for up to a couple of days. 

For the ginger roasted rhubarb; I used this recipe.

For 6 people I bought 2 x packs of Waitrose forced rhubarb {the forced stuff is grown in the dark making it extra pink and a lot sweeter than the regular stuff}. Cut up into thumb sized pieces.

- A jar of stem ginger for the syrup and chopped up 2 pieces of stem ginger

- A sprinkle of golden caster sugar.

Sprinkle everything in a roasting tray and then roast for about 20 minutes at 180c. You'll want it soft but still firm enough for the rhubarb to hold its shape. I let this cool, covered it in foil and then left in the fridge overnight. 

For the Pannacotta;

I doubled this recipe.

So for 6 people I used;

6 Gelatine Leaves

500ml whole milk

500ml double cream

1 vanilla pod {although I could have used two}, split lengthways, seeds scraped out

50g sugar {I used caster}

I've always loved ordering pannacotta in a restaurant but never made it before. Most people said it was easy but you do need to make sure you use the right amount of gelatine. Too little and it won't set, you'll have custard instead. But too much and it can be too firm to even put your spoon into. But if you follow a recipe you can't go too far wrong. 

You could serve the pudding in the ramekins, or use glass jars. But I wanted to turn them out for presentation so sat them in a sink of warm water for about 5 minutes to turn them out onto plates and then put back into the fridge before I was ready to serve. 

To assemble {either on the day/in advance. I put them together quickly just before serving}; 

Get your pink rhubarb from the fridge, it should be nicely infused by ginger now. 

Plate up to one side of the pannacotta. 

And then on the other side use your bashed ginger biscuits {I put them in a bag and crushed with a rolling pin but you could use a food processor}, and then top your pannacotta with the white chocolate shavings. I used the back of a knife to scrape down the block of chocolate.

And that's it! 

I put the leftover rhubarb and toppings on the table for extras. The pannacotta itself isn't meant to be very sweet so you'll want something like the rhubarb and chocolate to go with it. Raspberry or berry compote would also go well for summery puds when the rhubarb season is over.

The rest of Mother's Day; 

I cooked risotto, an old favourite that my Mum always requests.

We visited the flower market to pick up pretty blooms for our mum's and grandma's. 

Cute cards/stationery obsessed.

Allll the magnolia blossom.

That weekend seems like a world away now since our trip to The Maldives.

We've just got back so I need to unpack but I'll be back very soon with Birthday posts, travel pics and lots of kitchen and garden updates.

Have a lovely weekend,