Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

Panna cotta is Italian for “cooked cream.” It is exactly that, a cooked mixture of cream, sugar and gelatin and it's a very easy dessert to make. The flavors for panna cotta are endless, spices,tea even herbs can be steeped in the cream to infuse flavor. Panna cotta is velvety sweet, creamy, decadent  and is great on its own, but even better topped with fresh fruits or a sauce.  I hope you give it a try, it's perfect for any occasion, and your family and friends will love it!




4 cups (1-quart) heavy cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped*
2 1/4 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
3 tablespoons water

Strawberry Coulis for serving (recipe below)

Instructions
In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds.
Bring the mixture just to a simmer over medium heat. (when it starts to steam)
Simmer for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and steep for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl stir together the gelatin and water.
Let stand until thickened, about 5 minutes.
Uncover the cream mixture and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
Remove from heat, and stir in the prepared gelatin, stirring until dissolved.
Remove the vanilla bean and discard.
Pour the panna cotta mixture into four to six (4-6 ounce) ramekins or small bowls/jars. (To make the panna cotta extra smooth you can pour the cream mix through a mesh strainer)
Cool to room temperature.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the panna cotta is set but still jiggly, at least 4 hours.

Serve chilled in the ramekins, topped with strawberry coulis.


Strawberry Coulis

2 cups strawberries, diced
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water

In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients and bring to a boil.
Once it is boiling and the sugar has been dissolved, turn off the heat.
Purée until smooth with an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a blender and purée until smooth. Strain through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze to use at a later date.

*Scrape out the vanilla seeds and rub them into a little sugar to prevent the seeds from clumping
**1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract can be substituted, but may alter the color of the panna cotta.
**you can use all sorts of different glasses, cups, and jars to serve the panna cotta
**You can play around with substiuting some milk, in place of  cream, to make the dessert lighter. ( 2 cups cream, 2 cup milk for example)

**Panna cotta keeps well in the fridge and can be made ahead of time.
**if you wish to turn them out to serve instead, loosen panna cotta with a small knife or dip bottom of ramekin in hot water.

recipe found here

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