Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta means 'cooked cream' in Italian. The variations on this simple, yet luscious dessert are endless! After making the cooked cream, you might want to spoon some fruit compote or lay fresh berries on the bottoms of the custard cups before pouring in the cream (before chilling it). You may also choose to use different flavorings (instead of vanilla) - grate some lemon or orange zest into the nearly finished dessert - don't be afraid to experiment!

In a small pitcher or bowl, measure 1-1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream. Take a half of a vanilla bean- split it down the side, scrape out the beans and drop the entire bean into the heavy cream. Set aside.

In a 2 cup measuring cup, pour 1 cup (whole) milk and 1/2 C. light cream (half & half). Pour 1/3 of it into a heavy saucepan and sprinkle 4 teasp. unflavored, powdered gelatin over the top. Let it sit until the gelatin softens and swells, approx. 5 minutes. Pour in the rest of the milk and stir in 1/2 cup white sugar- stir well. Set the saucepan over medium heat and cook (around 5 min. or less) - stirring CONSTANTLY with a wire whisk - until the gelatin & sugar completely dissolve and milk mixture is HOT - DO NOT SIMMER OR BOIL - that will deactivate the setting property.


Once the milk/gelatin/sugar is heated and dissolved, remove from heat. Remove the vanilla bean from the heavy cream, making sure it's scraped well - stir it up and slowly pour it into the hot milk in the pan. Mix everything together thoroughly.

Lightly grease custard cups, ramekins or small bowls and place them on a baking pan. Divide the cream equally and pour into the little cups (leaving 1/2" space from the top). Loosely cover the ramekins and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours (or overnight) until the panna cotta is completely set.

You could serve it right in the ramekins or gently unmold them (as you would do with jello). This is a delicious dessert plain, or with fresh berries, sweet sauces or melted chocolate.

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. It is not known exactly how or when this dessert came to be, but some theories suggest that cream, for which mountainous Northern Italy is famous, was historically eaten plain or sweetened with fruit or hazelnuts. Earlier recipes for the dish did not directly mention gelatin, but instead included a step in which fish bones were boiled; this is now known to extract collagen from the bones, which turns to gelatin. Sugar, later a main ingredient, would not have been widely available as it was an expensive imported commodity. After years this treat evolved into what is now a gelatin dessert, flavoured with vanilla and topped with fruit or spices, and served chilled.