Panna cotta tart: a shell of good buttery shortcrust pastry, or alternatively made with extra virgin olive oil, and a creamy panna cotta filling. The pastry is blind-baked, without filling, on the surface using a sheet of parchment and some beans or dried pasta, which allows the pastry to bake perfectly and keep its shape without creating bulges on the surface to be filled. For the filling, a simple panna cotta poured while still hot into the baked shell will, as it cools, create a delicious layer scented with vanilla. To garnish, use edible fresh flowers and plenty of seasonal fresh fruit — I prepared this tart last spring, just before summer, when cherries and apricots first appeared, and I used those two fruits, but berries or strawberries are also great. Here’s how to prepare it.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Spring, Summer
Ingredients for panna cotta tart
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 tbsp butter
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1 egg
- to taste vanilla
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- to taste vanilla
- 2 sheets gelatin sheets (about 4 g)
- 3 1/2 tbsp milk
- to taste fresh fruit
- to taste edible violets
- mint
- beans or dried pasta (for blind baking)
Tools for panna cotta tart
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Tart pan
- 1 Parchment paper
- 1 Cookie cutter
Preparation steps for panna cotta tart
Make the pastry. In a bowl put the flour, cold butter cut into cubes and the sugar; work until you obtain a sandy mixture, then add vanilla and the egg and knead to form a smooth dough. Let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.
Roll out the cold dough (worked quickly beforehand). Roll on a floured surface with a rolling pin, using flour so the dough does not stick to the pin.
Roll out a disc about 4–5 mm thick (about 1/6–1/5 in) so it will cover a 24–26 cm (9.5–10 in) tart pan, including the rim. There is no need to butter and flour the pan, but flour well the side of the dough that you will lay in the pan.
Trim the edges neatly, removing any excess. Prick the base all over with the tines of a fork. Cover with a sheet of parchment paper, add the beans (or dried pasta) and bake in a preheated conventional oven at 356°F until the edges are nicely golden — this will take about 20 minutes or more.
Remove from the oven and let cool — better to remove the beans/pasta immediately. Transfer carefully to a serving tray.
Prepare the panna cotta by placing the cream and milk in a small saucepan with the sugar, or alternatively using pre-sweetened whipping cream, and add the vanilla. If using a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the milk and use the pod for extra flavor. Bring just to a boil and immediately remove from the heat. Let sit a few minutes off the heat to cool slightly, then add the softened and squeezed gelatin. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for about 5 minutes before adding them.
Stir the panna cotta mixture well until uniform and then pour it into the pastry shell. Let cool and set completely before decorating with fresh fruit, fresh mint and edible flowers. I also made some little pastry flowers from leftover dough to decorate the spring tart.
