PANNA COTTA RECIPE including BIMBY method
Panna cotta, or PANNA COTTA CREAM, is a classic Italian spoon dessert, particularly from Piedmont, made from cream and sugar that solidify thanks to gelatin, resulting in a fresh, velvety, creamy dessert with a cream and vanilla flavor.
Of unique indulgence, it is excellent on its own but also extremely versatile and can be accompanied by various garnishes ranging from fresh fruit, caramel, melted chocolate, and much more.
Contrary to what one might think, the recipe for panna cotta is really simple and accessible to everyone, and as mentioned it requires only a few simple ingredients: fresh liquid cream, sugar, vanilla (or vanillin), and gelatin sheets essential for solidifying the dessert.
For the preparation of Panna cotta, I relied on the original and infallible recipe of a famous pastry chef from my city, which I learned during one of his cooking courses 20 years ago, and since then I’ve always followed it with great success.
First, you will need to soak the gelatin to rehydrate it and meanwhile heat the fresh cream with sugar and vanilla over the stove. You will need to stir to dissolve the sugar well and bring the mixture almost to a boil. At that point, you can add the wrung gelatin before combining it with the hot cream.
Once all the ingredients are mixed, you can choose to make individual servings by pouring the Panna cotta into typical pudding molds or into a single mold to then unmold and slice. After cooling in the fridge, the dessert will be ready to be unmolded and served, giving life to a thousand tasty variations: from simple Panna cotta with berry sauce to Panna cotta with chocolate glaze or salted caramel and much more.
Everyone get ready because today we’ll prepare together the homemade panna cotta recipe as good as the store-bought one, even better, in less than 10 minutes: guaranteed result!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 376.32 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 20.05 (g) of which sugars 19.60 (g)
- Proteins 2.60 (g)
- Fat 32.00 (g) of which saturated 0.16 (g)of which unsaturated 0.10 (g)
- Fibers 0.09 (g)
- Sodium 1.53 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
INGREDIENTS FOR PANNA COTTA RECIPE
- 2 cups fresh liquid cream
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 0.21 oz gelatin sheets
- 1 pod vanilla
- fresh fruit
- chocolate (melted)
- caramel
Tools
- Small saucepan
- Hand whisk
- 4 Molds
RECIPE FOR PANNA COTTA
Before starting, soak the gelatin in a small bowl of cold water and let it soften for 10 minutes.
Pour the cream and sugar into a small saucepan together with the seeds from the vanilla pod. Stir and heat the cream, bringing it close to a boil. At this point, wring out the gelatin and add it to the cream, stirring to blend for a minute.
Pour the mixture into 6 molds of 2.5 oz each and refrigerate to set for at least 4 hours.
When it’s time to unmold, dip each mold in boiling water for a second, being careful not to let the liquid get inside. Then invert the mold onto a serving plate and help release the vacuum by using a small knife inserted at the side between the mold and the panna cotta. The same applies if you’ve used a single mold.
For my panna cotta, I chose a simple garnish made of strawberry jam and fresh strawberries, but you can also enrich it with a berry compote or melted dark chocolate or coffee. For the berry compote, just cook frozen berries in a small saucepan with sugar and lemon juice.
In any case, this dessert is suitable for being garnished in a thousand ways based on our tastes and the season. Some examples? In summer, decorate it with fresh apricots or peaches: you can use either fresh fruit cut into pieces or jellies or compotes.
If it’s fall or winter, use oranges (marmalade or compote) or pomegranate jelly. And for the more gluttonous, go for caramel toppings, melted chocolate, or liqueurs. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
Pour the fresh cream, sugar, and vanillin into the bowl, cook all the ingredients at 176°F for 7 min. speed 3.
Wring out the gelatin sheets well and add them to the cream mixture, mix everything for 15 sec. speed 3.
Now pour the panna cotta into individual molds (or a single mold).
Let the panna cotta cool at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator and let it cool for at least 4 hours.
Unmold the panna cotta onto plates and serve it with your favorite garnish.
NOTES AND ADVICE
VANILLA POD: Instead of a vanilla pod, you can use a teaspoon of vanilla extract or a sachet of vanillin.
FOOD GELATIN: alternatively, 0.7 oz of agar agar powder.
STORAGE
You can store panna cotta in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to a month.
ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF THE PANNA COTTA RECIPE
The origin of panna cotta is controversial. Some say it is a lighter version of the French Bavarian cream, while others claim its ancestor is a Sicilian dessert: biancomangiare. Legends also tell that it was created in the Langhe by a woman of Hungarian origin.
