Valentine Vincotto Panna Cotta

With a striking lavender hue and intriguing spice flavors, this creamy sweet treat can bring a lovely ending to a special meal. It is easy to make ahead of time. Do you sometimes have a cup or less of red wine left in the bottle? Freeze these “leftovers” until you have 3 cups to turn into an amazing spiced red wine syrup called “vincotto”. Use this syrup to sweeten fresh strawberries, or as suggested here for those you love. Cheers!

Vincotto Panna Cotta

3 Tbsp. cold water

1 packet unflavored gelatin (2 ½ tsp.)

1 ½ cups heavy cream

½ cup granulated sugar

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

2 Tbsp. vincotto, plus more for topping (see recipe below)

Place cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over and let stand for 5 minutes to soften.

In a medium saucepan, combine cream and sugar. Heat to a gentle boil. Remove from heat. Stir in softened gelatin, buttermilk and vincotto and mix well. Let mixture cool for 10 minutes.

Pour mixture evenly into 6 wine glasses. Chill for at least 3 hours (or up to the next day). To serve, carefully top each panna cotta glass with additional vincotto, about 1 Tablespoon per glass. Makes 6 servings.

Vincotto (Spiced Red Wine Syrup)

3 cups red wine (Carica “Siren” or Carica Syrah recommended)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

Optional 2 to 3 slices (1/8” thick) fresh ginger root

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until reduced to about ¼ of its original volume and thickened to a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat and strain through a sieve into a lidded glass jar; discard spices and ginger slices. Let wine syrup cool to room temperature. Store in refrigerator until ready to use, up to one month. Makes ¾ cup syrup.