Salted caramel panna cotta

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. Mix the sugar and 25ml water in a pan. Heat gently until the sugar melts, then boil until it becomes a dark amber colour. Remove from heat and add a pinch of sea salt.

Add the double cream to the caramel very slowly, continuously whisking. (If you pour it too quickly, the sugar will solidify. Put the pan back on the heat to re-melt it if this happens.) Then add the milk, off the heat again, and mix well.

Scrape the seeds from the split vanilla pod and drain the gelatine from the water.

The cream mix should be warm rather than hot. Stir through the vanilla seeds and drained gelatine.

Strain through a sieve into a jug and divide the mixture into 6 ramekins (approx. 90ml each). Put onto a tray, and put in the fridge. Chill overnight until set.

Serve the panna cotta by running a knife around the sides of the ramekins to loosen them, then tip them very carefully onto plates. Give the ramekin
a shake and leave upside down on the plate for minute if the panna cotta doesn’t come out straight away. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar just before serving.