Easy Panna Cotta Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are the main ingredients in panna cotta? ›

Panna cotta literally means "cooked cream," and that's about all it is! This custard-like dessert is made with just cream, sugar, and gelatin – though I like to add sour cream and vanilla to mine for the extra flavor. This panna cotta is like serving berries and cream, but fancier.

Cover each panna cotta with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until it's set; the time will vary depending on the size and shape of your containers, but expect four to six hours.

Panna cotta can always be the right dessert — whether you're throwing a fancy party or a small one, have lots of time or no time, are gluten-free, dairy-free, allergy-prone, vegan, or simply craving a delicious and creamy sweet. It's perfect.

If you find that your panna cotta separates into two layers, one that's creamy and one that's more gelatin-like — there can be two reasons. First, either your gelatin didn't bloom and dissolve properly when stirred into the cream. Second, the cream mixture boiled after the gelatin was added.

The main difference between the two is their fat content. Heavy cream has slightly more fat than whipping cream. Otherwise, they are nutritionally very similar. You can use them interchangeably in recipes without affecting the taste, although they may lead to different consistencies.

The gelatin gets stronger as it sits, so this will be a bit rubbery by days 4 or 5, but you can mitigate this by letting the panna cotta sit at room temperature for about half an hour before serving.

One potential problem is the gelatin didn't melt all the way or you boiled the gelatin mixture. When you boil gelatin, it loses its thickening power and won't set up as desired. The other issue is not giving the panna cotta enough time to set up.

Tips for Making Vanilla Panna Cotta

Give it a final stir to distribute the seeds before pouring it into your ramekins or cups. This will help keep the vanilla seeds suspended in the panna cotta for a beautiful speckled look, whereas otherwise they would mostly sink to the bottom.

The reason for the gelatin is obvious -- a perfect panna cotta should have just enough that it seems the cream is barely holding together. It quivers when you touch it. When there's too much gelatin, the custard feels stiff and cheesy. Too little and, well, you've got a puddle on the plate when you unmold it.

What does panna cotta literally mean? ›

Panna cotta means “cooked cream” in Italy, and that's essentially what the base is: heated heavy cream (often with a little half-and-half or whole milk) set with powdered gelatin and flavored with vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

Panna Cotta is a smooth, creamy dessert of Italian origin. Creme Brulee is famous because it is usually topped with brown sugar. Flan refers to a sweet custard-like dessert, topped with caramel.

Just a little too short on time for that panna cotta to set, instead ending up with a liquid is a small disaster. Making a panna cotta that's too firm isn't appreciated either. Instead, what you're looking for, is that perfect wobble. Despite the simplicity, achieving that perfect wobble isn't always easy.

Blancmange is sometimes thickened with gelatin or isinglass, and sometimes with cornstarch. Panna cotta is sometimes called a custard, but true custard is thickened with egg yolks, not gelatin. A lighter version substitutes cream with Greek yogurt.

The ultimate panna cotta should have the perfect wobble -- this is an indication of the texture, which should be silky, creamy, melt in the mouth but not too bouncy or rubbery. I'd rather a panna cotta that is more wobbly than too set, personally.

Its recipe includes cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, gelatin, rum, and marsala poured into a mold with caramel. Another author considers the traditional flavoring to be peach eau de vie, and the traditional presentation not to have sauce or other garnishes. Panna cotta became fashionable in the United States in the 1990s.

I analyzed a dozen recipes for panna cotta for three main attributes: the percentage of butterfat, the amount of gelatin and the sweetness. The jiggle: The reason for the gelatin is obvious — a perfect panna cotta should have just enough that it seems the cream is barely holding together.

Creme brulee is thicker and creamier than panna cotta, which has a softer, more gelatinous consistency. Creme brulee is a baked dessert made with egg yolks, whereas panna cotta is cooked on the stovetop, without eggs.