Do you remember Musk Sticks?
The mild perfumey pink lolly stick that would have in every goody-bag at every birthday of your childhood? When they were fresh, they'd be slightly soft with a bit of 'give' to them, but when they were stale, they'd still be tasty, but would have to be sucked on to soften them up so you wouldn't break a tooth.
I came across this liquor at the local Show, and was tickled pink :) with the flavour. I don't know if these are a uniquely Australian sweet, I haven't seen them anywhere else, but if it's not your cup of tea, you can replace the sweet muskiness with another flavour of your choice.
Panacotta Recipe
400ml lactose free cream
(I did try this with coconut cream, but the flavours didn't work nearly as well, you really need the bland smoothness of plain cream)
100ml musk liquor
1 1/2 tsp gelatine
1 tablespoon castor sugar
few drops of pretty pink colouring
Musk Toffee Topping
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup musk liquor
few drops hot pink colouring
Put all the topping ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes until reduced and syrupy.
Put the gelatine and 1 tablespoon of cold water in a small dish and let it
'bloom' for a few minutes. This means it will swell and soften down the granules so it will dissolve evenly later.
Place the cream, musk liquor and sugar in a pan and let it come to the boil.
Take it off the heat and stir in the gelatine mixture. Let it stand for a couple of minutes, then give another good stir to make sure the gelatine is mixed evenly. I don't advise whisking the mixture as you can get a lot of little air bubbles trapped in the end product.
Give your panacotta moulds a very light spritz with vegetable spray oil, this will make your life much easier when it comes to serving time. Don't worry, you won't taste it in the finished product.
Place about a teaspoon of the syrup mixture to the bottom of the moulds. Gently pour the cream mixture over the back of a spoon into the moulds until nearly full. The reason you do this is to try not to disturb the bit on the bottom so that when you unmould them, there'll be a nice hot pink base with a little dripping attractively over the edges ala creme caramel style. Getting a bit fancy aren't we?
Pop the little lovelies in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set and develop flavours.
Now, The Big Moment.......
To get the musky morsels out of the moulds just try breaking the seal at the top by easing back the edge with your finger, then placing the serving plate over the bottom of it and tipping it upside down. It just might slide out- maybe. Mine came out first time no problem. But if it's stubborn and doesn't want to co-operate, then boil the kettle and fill up a bowl a bit bigger than the moulds with the hot water. Dip each mould in the water for a few seconds then try again, this time there shouldn't be any problem. If this for some strange reason STILL isn't working, just hand the moulds to your guests along with a spoon and pretend you meant to serve them this way all along.
Aren't they gorgeous? Perfect for moments of pure pink perfumed pleasure,their marvellous muskiness making mouth-watering memories.
Yes, they do have that effect on me Readers, perhaps I didn't evaporate off all the alcohol? Maybe it's the red food colouring or the sugar rush? You'll just have to try them for yourself to see.
So Dear Readers, do you remember musk sticks? And what was your favourite childhood lolly?
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