Fancy Desserts! Panna Cotta!

The other night I had a dinner date and needed a dessert to complete the meal! The night's activities involved making french baguettes to complement the chicken chili we were also going to make. Everything was to be made but since all of the other dishes were going to take so long we decided it would be best to make dessert ahead of time so we wouldn't have to worry about too many things. It fell upon me to decide on a dessert and I wanted to impress this person so I knew I wanted something fancy sounding that would serve as a light ending to a hearty meal. The answer to this dilemma? Panna Cotta

So Fancy!

What is panna cotta you ask? I'm not really sure! But I know Wikipedia does!

According to Wikipedia:

"Panna cotta (from Italian cooked cream) is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It is generally from the Northern Italian region of Piedmont, although it is eaten all over Italy, where it is served with wild berries, caramel, chocolate sauce or fruit coulis."

Fascinating! Basically fancy jello! All kidding aside, this is a really easy dessert that can be dressed up in a variety of ways and ends up being a light dessert that can end up looking really beautiful depending on colors and fruits used.

Cooking wise it's not a difficult dish but does require some unique software. With the first being unflavored gelatine.

This product is available at most grocery stores in the baking needs isle and has a myriad of uses but does take some extra care. Picture above is mixing one package of gelatine with 2 tablespoons of cold water to let the gelatine "bloom". You can't just add gelatine powder to your mixes because it can clump and give you lumps. So in this step you prep your gelatine by mixing one package with 2 tablespoons of cold water and form a sort of gelatine block to be added later.

While the gelatin is blooming and waking we need to consider toppings. I wanted to make a strawberry sauce and had a frozen berry mix on hand.  I tossed about a cup of frozen berries into a small pot.

Already coloful!

On top of the berries I added half a cup of water and 1/3 a cup of sugar to form a strawberry sauce. Stir to combine and heat over medium heat.

You don't want a roiling boil, but instead just want to reduce it down into a sauce and cook it a little bit. 

Let that simmer for about 10 minutes and then cool to room temp and puree into a sauce. Strain your sauce to get out all the seeds and chunks and you have a nice and vibrant berry sauce.

Now for the actual panna cotta! Combine your milk, whipping cream and sugar in your pot.

Heat this mix over medium low heat. Do Not Boil! You just want to heat up the mix until the sugar dissolve. It doesn't take much and you won't notice a big change. You want a nice clean white color anyways to contrast your strawberry sauce.

Panna Cotta post cooking. Not much of a change but it'll set when chilled

Once the sugar has dissolved remove your pot from the heat and add your vanilla and stir in your gelatin block. Stir this until it is dissolved. At this point all the cooking is pretty much done! Now just pour your panna cotta into a serving vessel and toss in the fridge (covered) for at least 4 hours or until set. You can see the dishes and glasses I used below.

Panna Cotta for two! With two left over individual servings.

Once set, remove the vessels from the fridge and spoon your sauce so that it floats on top of the panna cotta as seen below. 

Adding the finishing touch

Serve chilled and enjoy!

Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients

200 ml milk
200 ml whipping cream
1/2 table spoon gelatin
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberry Sauce

1 cup fresh strawberries (or other berries) 
2 tablespoon water
1/4 cup sugar

Directions

1. Dissolve gelatin in 2 tablespoons of cold water and let it bloom for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Combine the whipping cream, milk and sugar in medium saucepan and bring  to a simmer over medium-low heat  (Do not boil). 
3. Once sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and add vanilla extract.
4. Stir in the gelatin until completely dissolved. 
5. Pour mix into serving glasses or dishes. Clear ones work best here! 
6. Refrigerate until sets, about 4 hrs or overnight.
7. Meanwhile, wash strawberries, and place in a small saucepan. 
8. Add sugar and water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
9. Simmer for 5 minutes and blend the mixture in a blender until smooth. 
10. Strain through a mesh sieve or strainer to remove any seeds.
11. Cool  this to room temperature then refrigerate until needed.
12. Once panna cotta has set, carefully spoon sauce on top to create a nice contrast of colors and serve chilled!

I hope you enjoy this really fancy sounding dish and use it to impress someone tonight! It really is simple and can be done with a variety of other sauces, compotes, or with some fresh fruit. I have seen some really cool pictures of chilling the panna cotta at different angles and shapes to create some very nice presentations. Give it a shot and get creative!