Grapefruit Fluff

Always one for an "era gone by story" that hales from New York City, this NYT article on a recipe from the Park Lane (twitter.com/nytimesdining actually featured recipes 1940 and 2010) struck me as the next experience in the kitchen. A bit daunting to try a panna cotta, but why shy away from a challenge. That's the beauty of cooking you can always do it over to get it right (as many times as necessary or as long as you have the chutzpah to face failure with hope).

For the vanilla-bean panna cotta:

2½ teaspoons powdered gelatin

2 cups heavy cream

½ cup sugar

½ vanilla bean

For the meringue:

4 egg whites, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 tablespoon grapefruit zest

For the brandied caramel sauce:

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ cup corn syrup

1¼ cups sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup brandy

For serving:

2 pink grapefruits.