Light dessert for sick girlfriend

[mojoman]

A month ago, I made a vanilla panna cotta that I served with blood orange supremes and a orange-ginger reduction that my GF loved.

She has a cold now and I'll be bringing her some soup and a light dessert tonight.

I would like to do something with orange because they're good when you have a cold but don't have time for the panna cotta to set up since I gotta cook this after work.

Any suggestions? Should I substitute vanilla ice cream for the panna cotta?

[kobetobiko]

May be you can do a quick rice pudding or tapioca pudding using soy milk(so no dairy) and add some orange slices and fruits. Then she will have energy from the carb, creaminess from the soy milk, and vitamin C from the fruits.

[p.j.]

One comfort food that I like when I have a cold is a baked apple. Peel the top 1/4 of the apple, core, and fill the hole with a few raisins and orange juice. Perhaps orange sections instead of the raisins. Microwave in a covered bowl for 2-3 min. and you are done. A little cinnamon on top might be nice as well.
You could prepare a few apples, so your friend can warm one up for breakfast tomorrow.
Good luck, p.j.

[macca]

OOH- I haven't had a baked apple in years. Have my neice and nephew for dinner tomorrow, and this will make a perfect desset!! And best of all- they will have a lot of fun helping me prepare it ( they are 3 and 5)

[mojoman]

Interesting suggestion. How is a microwaved baked apple though? It seems like it needs to bake in a convention oven to be good? You wouldn't use some butter and brown sugar?

[Andiereid]

My mom used to microwave baked apples. They're not as good as baked in a real oven, but they're not bad, either. We always cored them and then stuffed the core with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Very nice, especially when we had stuffy head colds.

By the way, she is a VERY lucky girlfriend! You are taking excellent care of her. Very thoughtful. I'm going to have to show this post to my husband!

[mojoman]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

I'm going with orange supremes in an orange-ginger reduction with a little vanilla ice cream, almond cookies, and a little dark chocolate unless someone can come with a better suggestion.

[lucyis]

I did a quick search on epicurious and saw a few recipes that are just sliced oranges with a sweet sauce. I think a sliced orange sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and perhaps shredded coconut would be good. I agree with xena, chocolate never hurts.

[Katie Nell]

I posted this recipe quite a while ago for Russian Creme Custard; I think it tastes a lot like panna cotta, but is more of a pudding consistency. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/27939... The original recipe uses raspberry puree, but you could do something with your oranges instead easily! It's actually one of my favorite desserts of all time and this coming from a chocolate all the way girl!

[xena]

macca is right, dairy is not usually best when one has a cold, though I find creamy desserts tough to resist no matter what. If you do want something similar to your wonderful sounding panna cotta, there is a very simple recipe in Jacques Pepin's Fast Food My Way cookbook. I don't own it but borrowed it once and I think it was something like sweetened cream cheese topped with orange sections with a sauce poured over all that was made up of orange juice concentrate and orange marmalade mixed together. Use top quality ingredients and you'll have a comforting, delicious dessert in minutes.
We added a couple of bites of dark chocolate to the plate just because for most of us a bit of chocolate cures what ails you!

If that sounds good, perhaps someone with the book would post the recipe.

Hope she feels better soon.

[hungryabbey]

Whenever I feel sick I want something warm and comforting and my comfort foods/flavours of choice are always fruit, oatmeal, cinnamon and brown sugar. So why not a nice warm apple/berry crisp?

[mojoman]

I don't have enough time to make a baked dessert. In this instance, I'm looking at one hour, max. I'm thinking ambrosia or something similar.

[macca]

I wouldn't go with ice cream if she has acold. I try to avoid any kind of dairy with a cold. How about a sorbet?