Two recipes for panna cotta - classic and with strawberries

Features of preparing panna cotta

The recipe for panna cotta is very simple, and even the most inexperienced cook can handle it. To prepare the dessert according to the classic recipe, take cream, mix with sugar and vanilla, and heat the mixture for 15 minutes. Then gelatin is added to it, the dessert is poured into molds and put in the refrigerator.

While the panna cotta hardens, the sauce is prepared, most often berry. The berries are lightly poured with water, put on fire, boiled for about 3-5 minutes, the water is drained, and the boiled berries themselves are rubbed through a sieve and the resulting thick syrup is sweetened to taste.

Traditionally, panna cotta dessert is served on a large round dish, with the mini-cake itself placed in the center, and the sauce poured around it. Fresh berries are often used as decoration.

It is very easy to prepare panna cotta at home; no complicated equipment or special cooking skills are required. In addition, the dessert is prepared quickly, but it turns out to be delicious, just like other classic Italian dishes.

However, special attention must be paid to the selection of ingredients used. The cream should be as thick and fresh as possible, the gelatin also needs to be fresh, otherwise the dessert may simply “not come together.”

TOP 8 recipes for making panna cotta

The number of variations of panna cotta dessert recipes is truly huge: classic creamy, berry, fruit, caramel, chocolate, with the addition of nuts, aromatic spices, citrus zest, etc. Some prepare the dessert from milk instead of cream, others replace gelatin on pectin or agar, and some do without thickeners altogether and bake the dessert instead of cooling. Below are some interesting recipes.

Classic panna cotta recipe

For the classic panna cotta recipe you will need only four ingredients - cream, sugar, gelatin and vanillin, as well as about half an hour of free time.

Strawberry panna cotta

Probably the most common alternative to classic panna cotta is berry. Since the classic dessert seems cloyingly sweet to many, berries give it a very appropriate sourness. We'll look at a recipe for panna cotta with strawberries.

Ingredients:

Cream - 500 ml
Milk – 250 ml
Gelatin – 10 g
Strawberries - 300 g
Sugar - 100 g

Step-by-step preparation of strawberry panna cotta:

Peel the strawberries from the branches, rinse and dry.
Finely chop the berries, mash them into a puree, rub through a sieve or beat with a submersible blender.
Mix milk with gelatin and leave for half an hour.
Pour the cream into a saucepan, add sugar, bring to a boil over low heat, and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Pour milk into cream, stir well.
Remove the mixture from the heat, add strawberry puree to it, stir.
Divide the dessert into molds and refrigerate for several hours.

Strawberry panna cotta goes great with a fruity pineapple or mango sauce.

Chocolate panna cotta

Another popular type of panna cotta is its chocolate variation. The taste is, again, not cloyingly sweet, but rich chocolate with a barely noticeable bitterness.

Ingredients:

Cream - 700 ml
Sugar - 70 g
Dark chocolate 70% – 150 g
Vanillin - a pinch
Gelatin – 15 g
Water – 60 ml

Step-by-step preparation of chocolate panna cotta:

Pour water over the gelatin, set aside and let it swell while the cream, sugar and chocolate are prepared.
Mix the cream with sugar and vanilla, put on the fire, bring to a boil over low heat, avoiding active boiling, cook for 10-15 minutes.
Remove the cream from the heat, break the chocolate into pieces and add to the hot mixture.
Stir well until the chocolate is completely melted.
Transfer the gelatin to the prepared mass, stir thoroughly until it dissolves.
Place the future dessert in molds - you can use glasses or bowls.
Place in the refrigerator for several hours.

Chocolate panna cotta is ready, it’s great served with chopped nuts and chocolate sauce - to prepare it, you can simply melt any ready-made bar.

Coconut Vegan Panna Cotta

You will be surprised, but this dessert can also be reproduced in a vegetarian version. And although the main main ingredients will have to be replaced, the taste will be very close to the original. Instead of cow's cream, you will need to use coconut milk, and instead of gelatin, you will need to use agar-agar vegetable thickener. So, further on how to make vegan panna cotta.

Ingredients:

Coconut milk - 500 ml (you can use 50/50 - coconut and almond milk)
Agar-agar - 1 tsp.
Vanillin - a pinch
Sugar or other sweetener - to taste

Steps to make coconut vegan panna cotta:

Pour milk into a saucepan, add sweetener, agar-agar and vanilla.
Bring to a boil over low heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Let the prepared mixture cool slightly and pour it into the molds.
Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

That's all, the panna cotta is ready, as you can see, the vegan recipe is no more complicated than the usual one. You can serve the dessert in the same way as the classic one, with berry sauce.

Note! Coconut milk itself has a noticeable sweet taste, so when adding sweetener, be careful not to overdo it.

Caramel panna cotta

One of the most delicious variations of dessert is homemade caramel panna cotta. Cooking it will require some skill, but, in general, the recipe is not much more complicated than others.

Ingredients:

Sugar - 125 g
Cream - 500 ml
Gelatin – 8 g
Water - 4 tbsp.

Step-by-step preparation of caramel panna cotta:

Pour the gelatin into a small bowl and fill it with water.
While it's swelling, put the sugar in a ladle or small saucepan and start melting it over low heat - be very careful, a little carelessness and the sugar will burn.
When the sugar melts, you will have a beautiful caramel.
Add cream to it, mix well.
If you pour in cold cream, the caramel may curdle a little, in which case just warm the mixture slightly.
Mix gelatin with water and beat the mixture.
Pour the dessert into molds and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Caramel panna cotta does not go well with various sauces, but is ideal with whipped cream.

Mango panna cotta

If you want to make a fruity panna cotta, it's best to use sweet, soft fruits like mango for example. You can add less sugar though.

Ingredients:

Cream - 300 ml
Milk – 200 ml
Gelatin - 2 tsp.
Mango - 1 pc.
Powdered sugar - to taste
Vanillin - a pinch

Step-by-step preparation of mango panna cotta:

Peel the mango, place the pulp in a blender, and blend.
Pour the cream, milk, vanilla and powdered sugar into a small saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Add mango puree, gelatin, mix well, simmer for another 5 minutes.
Cool, place in bowls, and put in the refrigerator.

Panna cotta with mango turns the Italian dessert into a tropical one, and therefore it is better to serve it with a sauce made from tropical fruits - again, mango, pineapple, kiwi.

Double layer panna cotta with chocolate and nuts

This panna cotta will be a real decoration of the festive table: a light, but beautiful and tasty dessert will be the ideal end to any celebration. You can learn how to make such a beautiful panna cotta from this recipe.

Ingredients:

Baked milk – 400 ml
Chocolate – 100 g
Walnut – 50 g
Gelatin – 25 g
Cream - 50 ml
Sugar - 3 tbsp.
Vanillin - to taste

Step-by-step preparation of two-layer panna cotta with chocolate and nuts:

Break the chocolate into pieces, place in a small bowl and melt in a water bath or in the microwave.
Pour warm milk (50 ml) over the chocolate mixture, mix well, add nuts and mix again.
Cool the mixture slightly, fill the panna cotta molds halfway with it, and put it in the freezer.
Meanwhile, pour the remaining milk and cream into the pan, add vanillin, sugar, bring to a boil over low heat, simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat, add gelatin, stir well until it dissolves.
Remove the molds with the chocolate layer from the freezer and pour the white layer on top.
Now put it in the refrigerator until it hardens completely.

This dessert looks best in bowls; it is recommended to serve it, just like caramel panna cotta, with whipped cream.

Panna cotta without thickeners

It is possible to make panna cotta without using gelatin or other thickeners, but in this case, to thicken the mixture, it will need to be baked before putting it in the refrigerator. Otherwise the recipe is very similar.

Ingredients:

Cream - 300 ml
Milk – 125 ml
Sugar - 55 g
Vanillin - a pinch
Salt - a pinch
Egg whites - 2 pcs.

Step-by-step preparation of panna cotta without thickeners:

Mix milk with cream, sugar, salt, vanilla.
Place the mixture on the stove, bring to a boil over low heat, simmer for several minutes - make sure there is no intense boiling.
Add the egg whites, lightly beaten, and mix well.
Take baking molds, grease them with butter - do not use vegetable oil, you risk ruining the harmonious milky taste.
Divide the mixture into the molds.
Pour water into a deep baking tray; panna cotta should be cooked in a water bath. If you don't have a deep baking pan, you can use a large baking dish
Place small panna cotta ramekins on a baking sheet/tin and bake for about an hour at 160 degrees.
The panna cotta will lightly brown on top and acquire an appetizing crust. Be careful, the hot mass is very delicate, and if you move awkwardly, you can break the shape. The dessert must be very carefully removed from the oven and cooled - it will become thicker as it cools.
When the dessert has cooled, you can put it in the refrigerator for several hours to thicken it further.
You can serve this panna cotta with any sauce; its taste is classic creamy, and therefore it will be ideally combined with berries, fruits, chocolate, and caramel.

Panna cotta with strawberries and champagne

Delicate and airy panna cotta with strawberries and champagne is one of the popular summer desserts. This is understandable, because the dish is served chilled, which is so desirable in the summer heat, and for its preparation one of the most beloved and long-awaited berries is used by many - strawberries.

Looking at the photo, you probably guessed that red champagne in this recipe is used to pour the berries, but with no less success you can take pink sparkling wine or ready-made instant fruit jelly.

This “wine” jelly, together with strawberries, forms a fairly refreshing layer with a slight sourness, which perfectly complements the taste of the lower, sweeter layer of cream. In principle, strawberries in the recipe can easily be replaced by cherries, sour cherries and other seasonal berries, which can be added individually or as an assortment of berries.

To prepare panna cotta with strawberries and champagne, we will need:

1 liter of cream 12% fat (2 packs)
300 g strawberries (large ones - cut into slices, small ones - add whole)
200 ml champagne (any sparkling wine to taste)
2 packets of vanilla sugar
150 g sugar
3 packs of instant gelatin (1 pack - 15 g)
silicone baking mold

First of all, I want to note that the volume of strawberries in the recipe can be halved.

I wanted to make a more berry recipe and ended up with two layers of strawberries in wine jelly, but when you turn the silicone mold over, the bottom layer sags a little because it is less dense and more delicate than the top. Thus, it turns out “not a hat like Senka”; I think with one layer of strawberries the panna cotta would have turned out taller.

Therefore, choose an option to your taste, only if you reduce the strawberries, you can also reduce the champagne to 150 ml.

So, put strawberries on the bottom of the silicone mold.

Pour champagne into a saucepan, add a tablespoon of sugar, heat without bringing to a boil and pour one packet of gelatin into it. Stir thoroughly until completely dissolved and pour the mixture over the berries. After about half an hour, put the mold in the refrigerator until the wine layer with strawberries has completely hardened.

Meanwhile, pour the cream into a saucepan, add sugar, including vanilla, stir until it is completely dissolved and heat, but do not bring to a boil.

Pour two packages of instant gelatin into the hot cream and mix thoroughly, preferably with a whisk, this also produces a tasty foam, which then, when hardened, forms the most delicate consistency.

Leave the buttercream to cool at room temperature for about 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. Then, when the strawberry layer has hardened well, carefully pour the creamy part of the panna cotta onto it and give the dessert at least a couple more hours to cool in the refrigerator.

If you prepare panna cotta with strawberries and champagne for a festive table, it is more convenient to do this a day or two before serving, because during this time it is easily stored in the refrigerator.

Bon appetit and see you soon!