Panna cotta con cranberries

Panna cotta (lit. cooked cream) is a traditional Italian pudding. It's very easy to make, it just consists of cream, milk, sugar and gelatine. In its simplicity, it's delicious. Still, some chefs add different ingredients to flavor it and give it a modern touch. Here I'll present you my version of panna cotta with cranberries, the fruit that I recently discovered thanks to this cake presented by Jai and Bee some time ago. As I said, cranberries are not found in Italy and I didn't know how to translate the name until Simona suggested it to me: 'mirtilli di palude'. This literally translates back into 'swampy blueberries'... mmmmmmm.... I think I'll keep using the exotic name of 'cranberries' in Italian too. :)

Panna cotta con cranberries / Cranberry panna cotta

Ingredients:
1/2 liter (2 cups) milk
1/2 liter (2 cups) heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange flavored liquor (this would be rum if you were making the traditional version)
1 cup cranberries
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup orange juice
gelatine
Procedure:
Caramelize ~2 tsp sugar on the bottom of the baking pan you're going to use.
Heat milk, cream, sugar and vanilla in a pot. Bring to boil, then add the gelatine. Here is a trick: I used to use an Italian version of gelatin, which I couldn't find in the US. So this time I used instead powdered gelatin, unflavored. I used it in the same doses that were written on the box to make jello: 4 small bags of powdered gelatin for 1 liter of liquid. Still, next time I do this, I won't use these doses. The panna cotta turned out too firm. I'll try with 3 bags. If you do it, I'd recommend to use a similar ratio of gelatin/liquid. Keep stirring while the mixture boils for ~5 min, so that the powder is completely dissolved. Add the orange flavored liquor, and pour this into the baking pan that you have previously covered with the caramel. Leave overnight in the fridge. If you were making the traditional version, you'd be done at this point. Just serve the day after flipping it on a nice serving dish.
To make my cranberry topping, heat up the cranberries with the honey and the orange juice. Cook until the cranberries become very soft and the liquid is almost all consumed. The day after, flip the pan with the panna cotta on your serving dish. Then, spread the cranberry sauce on top.
This panna cotta was enjoyed by all the guests, even though I thought it was a bit too firm. The cranberries give a very pretty color to the dish, and a very strong contrast with their tartness to the sweetness of the panna cotta. It's definitely a different experience compared to the simply soothing comfort that panna cotta gives you when you have it in the regular version. If you try this, let me know what you think!
I'll send this recipe as my first entry to the 'Sugar High Fridays' event, this month hosted by Zorra and themed on pudding.