Last night I went to Carluccio's for the first time to celebrate my birthday (belatedly). It was a delicious meal, started with Bellini cocktails and olives. To start I had parma ham with melted mozzarella and buffalo tomatoes, followed by the most delicious sea food risotto.
Then came to pudding catastrophe. Their one chocolate option for dessert had sold out...What to do?
I decided after much deliberation to opt for the Panna Cotta, but not if my sister had anything to do with it...
She sneaked off to the 'ladies room' to speak to the waiter out rustling up some kind of chocolate sweet treat for me. They managed to find a slice of chocolate cake, which at the ripe age of twenty was delivered to me with a lit tea light, restaurant lights off, and topped off with singing waiters. I was glad my seat was facing away from most of the restaurant as my face probably would have glowed brighter than the candle flame!
I dug into the cake, taking a tiny bit of sponge first and was really surprised how it incredibly dry it was. A snip of the chocolate icing however showed the cake to be fresh as it was soft and almost runny. Then I ate a lovely large mouthful of both together. The very wet icing complimented the dry sponge so well, I began to wonder whether it was a special Italian recipe. The sponge, was crumbly, nutty.
My sisters choice was my least favourite, a lemony custard tart. I do like to indulge in rich pudding, but this for me was overly sweet sticky and cloying. The pastry had also lost its bite and become soggy.
My boyfriend diplomatically went for the panna cotta so I could have a taste. Following chocolate, vanilla is one of my favourite flavourings. Rum and vanilla panna cotta with candied orange peel sounded right out my street. I was worried it may be too sweet or sticky but my worries were wrong. It was delicious. The texture was understandably thick and heavy by the flavour was light, whilst still maintaining a lovely richness. The vanilla was subtle and authentic, and the rum added an almost zesty freshness to the after-taste.
A delicious meal finished with dessert wine served with dipping biscuits, and a latte. Delightful.
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