Vanilla Panna Cotta
If anyone wants a basic panna cotta recipe, this is the one I've used for years. Appended are notes of my trials/experiments for the curious.
Vanilla Panna Cotta - serves 4 x 1/2 cup servings or 6 x 1/3 cup servings
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk
1/4-1/3 cup regular sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp (1 tbsp) gelatin
In a small bowl sprinkle 2 tbsp cold water over the gelatin. Scald the milk, cream, sugar and salt in a small saucepan or in the microwave.
Let the milk/cream mixture cool slightly and stir some into the gelatin. Then, add the gelatin mixture to the milk mixture.
Add vanilla extract to the milk mixture and let cool for a further 5 minutes. In the meantime, rinse your ramekins or silicone molds in cold water or oil lightly with vegetable oil. (You can also pour it into a pretty glass and eat directly out of it making the oiling unnecessary.) Pour the mixture into the ramekins and then place them in the refrigerator to set.
Chocolate variation : Chop up 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate fine and stir into hot mixture til smooth, and portion into ramekins etc.
Alternatively, you can pre-steep coffee, lavender, Earl Gray tea (2 tbsp), green matcha tea powder (2 tsp - 1 tbsp), the split pod and seeds of a single vanilla pod etc in the hot mixture, strain it out when it's the proper strength and then rewarm slightly and continue with the rest of the recipe. Just fish out the vanilla pod and don't strain the liquid as you want the lovely little seeds to remain in your panna cotta.
Trial 1 : 100gm dark swiss chocolate bar, chopped up and warmed up in microwave with whipping cream (4 x 30 sec pulses on high). On cooling, chocolate settled to bottom giving darker bottom layer a grainy taste. Stir during cooling to prevent this? Needs more sugar.
Trial 2 : Reduced gelatin to 2 tsp which made it harder to unmold. Some sticking to bottom and panna cotta not as firm.
Trial 3 : Increased sugar to 1/3 cup ( 1 tsp of it was vanilla sugar) and sprinkled a layer of rinsed raspberries on bottom before pouring custard over the top. Reduced liquid vanilla extract to 1 tsp to account for the addition of the vanilla sugar.
Panna cotta is a wonderfully versatile dessert that can be enjoyed by everyone.
NOTE: If you want it really rich, use 1/2 cup milk and 1 1/2 cup whipping cream.
Vanilla Panna Cotta - serves 4 x 1/2 cup servings or 6 x 1/3 cup servings
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup milk
1/4-1/3 cup regular sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp (1 tbsp) gelatin
In a small bowl sprinkle 2 tbsp cold water over the gelatin. Scald the milk, cream, sugar and salt in a small saucepan or in the microwave.
Let the milk/cream mixture cool slightly and stir some into the gelatin. Then, add the gelatin mixture to the milk mixture.
Add vanilla extract to the milk mixture and let cool for a further 5 minutes. In the meantime, rinse your ramekins or silicone molds in cold water or oil lightly with vegetable oil. (You can also pour it into a pretty glass and eat directly out of it making the oiling unnecessary.) Pour the mixture into the ramekins and then place them in the refrigerator to set.
Chocolate variation : Chop up 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate fine and stir into hot mixture til smooth, and portion into ramekins etc.
Alternatively, you can pre-steep coffee, lavender, Earl Gray tea (2 tbsp), green matcha tea powder (2 tsp - 1 tbsp), the split pod and seeds of a single vanilla pod etc in the hot mixture, strain it out when it's the proper strength and then rewarm slightly and continue with the rest of the recipe. Just fish out the vanilla pod and don't strain the liquid as you want the lovely little seeds to remain in your panna cotta.
Trial 1 : 100gm dark swiss chocolate bar, chopped up and warmed up in microwave with whipping cream (4 x 30 sec pulses on high). On cooling, chocolate settled to bottom giving darker bottom layer a grainy taste. Stir during cooling to prevent this? Needs more sugar.
Trial 2 : Reduced gelatin to 2 tsp which made it harder to unmold. Some sticking to bottom and panna cotta not as firm.
Trial 3 : Increased sugar to 1/3 cup ( 1 tsp of it was vanilla sugar) and sprinkled a layer of rinsed raspberries on bottom before pouring custard over the top. Reduced liquid vanilla extract to 1 tsp to account for the addition of the vanilla sugar.
Panna cotta is a wonderfully versatile dessert that can be enjoyed by everyone.
NOTE: If you want it really rich, use 1/2 cup milk and 1 1/2 cup whipping cream.