Features of the preparation of an Italian dessert. TOP 8 best panna cotta recipes with chocolate, berries, fruits, no gelatin and others. Video recipes.
Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made with cream, gelatin, sugar and vanilla. Its name stands for "boiled cream". The homeland of the dessert is the Piedmont region. For panna cotta, not only the recipe is important, but also the correct serving, the dessert is always accompanied by a sauce - often fruit or berry, less often caramel or chocolate. The classic panna cotta is round, small in size and white in color. However, the Italian dessert is not always prepared according to the traditional recipe, and therefore the shape, color, and ingredients may differ.
Features of cooking panna cotta
The panna cotta recipe is very simple, and even the most inexperienced chef can handle it. To prepare a dessert according to the classic recipe, cream is taken, mixed with sugar and vanilla, and the mixture is heated for 15 minutes. Then gelatin is added to it, the dessert is poured into molds and put into the refrigerator.
While the panna cotta hardens, a sauce is prepared, most often berry sauce. 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, the mini cake itself is placed in the center, and sauce is poured around it. Fresh berries are often used as decoration.
It is very easy to cook panna cotta at home; no complicated devices or special cooking skills are required for this. In addition, the dessert is prepared quickly, but it turns out to be tasty, win-win, just like other classic Italian dishes.
However, special attention must be paid to the selection of the ingredients used. The cream should be as fatty and fresh as possible, the gelatin also needs fresh, otherwise the dessert may simply "not take".
TOP-8 recipes for cooking panna cotta
The number of variations of panna cotta dessert recipes is really huge: classic creamy, berry, fruit, caramel, chocolate, with the addition of nuts, aromatic spices, citrus zest, etc. Someone prepares a dessert from milk instead of cream, someone replaces gelatin on pectin or agar, and someone does without thickeners at all and instead of cooling they bake a dessert. Here are some interesting recipes.
The classic panna cotta recipe
For a classic panna cotta recipe, you need only four ingredients - cream, sugar, gelatin and vanillin, as well as about half an hour of free time.
See also TOP-6 recipes for semifredo.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 300 kcal.
- Servings - 3-5
- Cooking time - 30 minutes (active), 2-3 hours (passive)
Ingredients:
- Cream - 500 ml
- Sugar - 100-150 g
- Vanillin - 1 pinch
- Gelatin - 2 tablespoons
- Water - 90 ml (for swelling gelatin)
Step-by-step cooking of panna cotta according to the classic recipe:
- Pour gelatin with cold water, leave to swell.
- Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan, put on fire.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, then simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
- Pour hot flavored cream into the swollen gelatin.
- Stir well vigorously to dissolve all gelatin.
- Pour the dessert into molds, refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
While the panna cotta is solidifying, you can consider serving options, you can make a special sauce, or you can simply grate the chocolate on a fine grater, decorate the dessert with it, fresh berries and fruits.
Strawberry panna cotta
Probably the most common alternative to the classic panna cotta is berry. Since many people find the classic dessert lusciously sweet, the berries give it a very appropriate sourness. We will take a look at the recipe for panna cotta with strawberries.
Ingredients:
- Cream - 500 ml
- Milk - 250 ml
- Gelatin - 10 g
- Strawberry - 300 g
- Sugar - 100 g
How to prepare strawberry panna cotta step by step:
- Peel the strawberries, rinse and dry.
- Finely chop the berries, mash in mashed potatoes, rub through a sieve or beat with an immersion blender.
- Mix milk with gelatin, leave for half an hour.
- Pour the cream into a saucepan, add sugar, bring to a boil over low heat, boil for 10-15 minutes.
- Pour milk into cream, stir well.
- Remove the mixture from heat, add the strawberry puree to it, stir.
- Arrange the dessert in tins, refrigerate for a few hours.
Strawberry pana cotta goes well with pineapple or mango fruit sauce.
Chocolate panna cotta
Another popular type of panna cotta is its chocolate variation. The taste is, again, not sugary sweet, but rich chocolate with a barely perceptible bitterness.
Ingredients:
- Cream - 700 ml
- Sugar - 70 g
- Bitter chocolate 70% - 150 g
- Vanillin - a pinch
- Gelatin - 15 g
- Water - 60 ml
How to make a chocolate panna cotta step by step:
- Pour gelatin with water, set aside, let it swell while cream with sugar and chocolate is being prepared.
- Mix cream with sugar and vanilla, put on fire, bring to a boil over low heat, not allowing active boil, cook for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the cream from the heat, break the chocolate into pieces and place in the hot mixture.
- Stir well until the chocolate is completely melted.
- Transfer the gelatin to the prepared mass, stir thoroughly to dissolve.
- Arrange the future dessert in tins - you can use glasses, bowls.
- Refrigerate for a few hours.
The chocolate panna cotta is ready, perfectly served with chopped nuts and chocolate sauce - you can simply melt any ready-made bar to make it.
Coconut Vegan Panna Cotta
You will be surprised, but this dessert can be reproduced in a vegetarian version as well. And although the main main ingredients will have to be replaced, the taste will be very close to the original. Instead of cow cream, you will need to use coconut milk, and instead of gelatin, you will need to use agar-agar vegetable thickener. So, next on how to cook vegan panna cotta.
Ingredients:
- Coconut milk - 500 ml (you can take 50 to 50 - coconut and almond milk)
- Agar-agar - 1 tsp
- Vanillin - a pinch
- Sugar or other sweetener - to taste
How to make vegan coconut panna cotta step by step:
- Pour milk into a saucepan, add sweetener, agar-agar and vanilla there.
- 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.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
That's all, panna cotta is ready, as you can see, the vegan recipe is no more complicated than usual. The dessert can be served in the same way as the classic one, with berry sauce.
Note! Coconut milk itself has a noticeable sweet taste, so be careful not to overdo it when adding sweetener.
Caramel Panna Cotta
One of the most exquisite dessert variations is homemade caramel panna cotta. It will take some skill to make it, but in general, the recipe is not much more complicated than others.
Ingredients:
- Sugar - 125 g
- Cream - 500 ml
- Gelatin - 8 g
- Water - 4 tablespoons
Step by step preparation of caramel panna cotta:
- Pour gelatin into a small bowl, cover it with water.
- While it is swelling, put the sugar in a small saucepan or small saucepan, start melting it over low heat - be very careful, a little inattention, and the sugar will burn.
- When the sugar is melted, you have a beautiful caramel.
- Add cream to it, mix well.
- If you pour cold cream, the caramel may curl a little, in which case, just heat the mixture slightly.
- Stir in the gelatin with water, whisk the mixture.
- Pour the dessert into molds, refrigerate for 2 hours.
Caramel panna cotta doesn't go well with a variety of sauces, but perfect with whipped cream.
Panna cotta with mango
If you want to make fruity panna cotta, it is best to use sweet soft fruits like mango for example. With this, you can add less sugar.
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 panna cotta with mango:
- Peel the mango, put the pulp in a blender, beat.
- Pour cream, milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar into a small saucepan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, boil for 5-10 minutes.
- Add mango puree, gelatin, mix well, simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Cool, arrange in bowls, 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.
Two-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 perfect 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 tablespoons
- Vanillin - to taste
Step-by-step preparation of a two-layer panna cotta with chocolate and nuts:
- Break the chocolate into pieces, put in a small bowl and melt in a water bath or microwave.
- Pour the chocolate mass with warm milk (50 ml), mix well, add the nuts and mix again.
- Cool the mass slightly, fill the panna cotta molds halfway with it, put in the freezer.
- Meanwhile, pour the remaining milk, cream into a saucepan, add vanillin, sugar, bring to a boil over low heat, simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, add gelatin, mix well until it dissolves.
- Remove the chocolate molds from the freezer, pour the white layer on top.
- Now put it in the refrigerator until it hardens completely.
Best of all, this dessert looks in bowls, it is recommended to serve it, like caramel panna cotta, with whipped cream.
Panna cotta without thickeners
Cooking panna cotta is possible without the use of gelatin and other thickeners, but in this case, to thicken the mixture, before putting it in the refrigerator, it will need to be baked. 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 cooking panna cotta without thickeners:
- Combine milk with cream, sugar, salt, vanilla.
- Put the mixture on the stove, bring to a boil over low heat, simmer for several minutes - make sure that there is no intense boil.
- Add egg whites, lightly beaten beforehand, mix well.
- Take baking tins, coat them with butter - do not use vegetable oil, you risk spoiling the harmonious milk taste.
- Divide the mixture into molds.
- Pour water into a deep baking sheet, panna cotta should be cooked in a water bath. If you don't have a deep baking sheet, you can use a large baking dish.
- Place small panna-cotta tins on a baking sheet / in the form, bake for about an hour at 160 degrees.
- The panna cotta will lightly brown on top, acquiring an appetizing crust. Be careful, the hot mass is very delicate, and if you move awkwardly, you can break the shape. Dessert must be very carefully removed from the oven and cooled - as it cools, it will become thicker.
- When the dessert has cooled down, it can be rearranged in the refrigerator for several hours for additional thickening.
- You can serve such a panna cotta with any sauce, it tastes classic creamy, and therefore it will ideally be combined with berries, and with fruits, and with chocolate, and with caramel.
