- 300ml/10½fl oz double cream
- 1 vanilla pod, split in half lengthways and seeds scraped out
- 100g/3½oz caster sugar
- 2-3 gelatine leaves, soaked in water for a few minutes
- 350ml/12fl oz buttermilk
- 25ml/1fl oz vodka
- oil, for greasing
- 140g/5oz soft brown sugar
- 85g/3oz clarified beef dripping
- 225g/8oz mixed dried fruit and candied peel
- 225g/8oz wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground allspice
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 500g/18fl oz rhubarb, cut into batons
- 2 tbsp light soft brown sugar
- 4 tbsp apple juice
- For the panna cotta, chill a large jug or bowl in the freezer.
- Heat the double cream, vanilla pod and seeds and sugar in a saucepan until just boiling. Remove the pan from heat, add the soaked gelatine and buttermilk and whisk until well combined
- Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into the chilled jug, and then stir in the vodka.
- Return the jug to the fridge and whisk the mixture every five minutes until it begins to set.
- Pour the mixture into dariole moulds and chill in the fridge for at least two hours, or until completely set.
- For the dripping cake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line an 18cm/7in cake tin.
- Put the sugar, dripping, dried fruit and candied peel into a saucepan. Add 225ml/8fl oz water and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes, then allow to cool in the pan.
- Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the cooled dried-fruit mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon, gradually drawing in the flour from around the edge of the well, until you have a smooth batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Leave in the tin for five minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the roasted rhubarb, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Place the rhubarb on a roasting tray, sprinkle over the sugar then drizzle over the apple juice. Roast in the oven for 8-12 minutes, or until just tender.
- Blend 125g/4½oz of the roasted rhubarb to a purée in a food processor. Reserve the remaining roasted rhubarb.
- To serve, remove the panna cotta from their moulds, by briefly dipping the base of each mould into a bowl of boiled water. Gently slide a knife around the edge of each panna cotta and turn out into the centre of a serving plate. Serve with the rhubarb purée, a slice of dripping cake and roasted rhubarb.