Yummy! Panna Cotta with Blueberries

This is from the April/May issue of Light and Tasty magazine on Page 52, "Trimmed Down Desserts" It takes a little bit of time -about 45 minutes- particularly for the berry sauce, but it's so worth it.

Panna Cotta with (Mixed) Berries (Mary Bergfeld)

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 cups whole (yes, whole!) milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup water
1/2 cup Spenda
2 cups frozen blueberries
1/2 cup grape juice
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (I just set some frozen aside to defrost)

In a medium saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over milk; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Stir in extract.

Pour into 6 6 oz. ramkins (I used the 1 cup size) coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate until set.

Meanwhile in a medium saucepan (rinse and use the same one from the milk mixture part!), bring water and Splenda to a boil. (At this point I also added the grape juice and brought all three to a boil at the same time. No harm, no foul!) Add the frozen berries and juice, if you haven't already. Return to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Mash and strain berries, reserving juice. Discard seeds. (But I kept them, I'll experiment and add to my smoothie tomorrow morning and report back. It tasted too good to toss.)

Return juice to the pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until sauce is reduced to 3/4 cup. Pour this definitely staining hot syrup into a measuring cup?! Uh, no! I just went ahead and simmered for 7 minutes instead. Turned out fine. Transfer to a bowl; cover and refrigerate until chilled. Instead I used a quart sized yogurt container with a lid I can toss afterwards if necessary.

Unmold panna cotta onto dessert plates. Serve with sauce and berries.

Nutrition facts: 1 serving equals 174 calories, 4 g fat (3 g saturated), 17 mg cholesterol, 64 mg sodium, 27 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 6 g protein. Diabetic exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fruit, 1/2 milk.

By making this with whole milk instead of traditional cream, you save 336 calories, 44 g fat, 24 g saturated fat and 146 mg cholesterol. Wow!

(The original recipe called for 2 cups of frozen unsweetened mixed berries, 1/2 cup fresh raspberries in addition to the fresh blueberries, and you could also use 1/2 cup port wine instead of the grape juice.)