This panna cotta recipe has been inspired from this wonderful Italian blog called Giallo Zafferano – It’s filled with delicious and inventive recipes that are mouth-watering. For coffee lovers, this panna cotta will be a real treat. This type of dessert is called “dolce al cucchiaio” meaning spoon dessert, basically a dessert that can be eaten with a spoon.

Panna cotta is a very easy to make dessert, and you don’t need to be a master chef to succeed at it. You just need right quantities of cream, sugar and gelatine sheets…but no specific technique is required, so don’t wait, make one…at least to treat yourself (I always do!). You need strong espresso, or coffee made in a moka machine (those manual Italian coffee makers), I see a lot of those sold in the US, and they’re mainly from the brand Bialetti. So I would say that the trickiest part is to get the right coffee, otherwise your panna cotta will be somehow flavorless.

For the gelatin sheets, you can use gelatin powder as well, so 8 g of gelatin sheets would be about one packet of powder.

Ingredients for 5-6 mini cups

• 5.3 oz (or 150 ml) strong espresso + 2.82 oz (or 80 g) for the chocolate sauce
• 0.28 oz (or 8g) gelatin sheets or 1 pack of gelatin powder
• 1 lb (or 500 ml) heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise, beans scraped
• 1/2 tsp coffee extract (optional)
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) sugar
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) semi sweet chocolate

Preparation

Start getting your coffee ready. Soak gelatin sheets in water until they become soft. Bring cream to a boil with sugar and vanilla beans. Remove from heat and add gelatin sheets, mix well then add coffee. Strain mixture in a strainer to remove the small particles. Pour in individual molds. Let them cool, then refrigerate for about 4-5 hours.

Melt chocolate in microwave or in a water bath, add coffee and mix well to obtain a smooth texture but not too liquid.

Remove the panna cotta from molds using a small knife it it sticks to the sides of the mold. You can also place bottom of panna cotta in hot water for a few seconds to help with the removal.

Place in a plate and decorate with chocolate sauce.

This is my last post before my trip to France, I am leaving on Monday to fly to Nancy (Lorraine) to visit my parents as every January. Hopefully I will get a lot of inspiration while at home and post some exciting recipes. In the meantime, I wanted to make these pots de crème for such a long time and les voilà!

I already talked about Le Garage, this wonderful little French restaurant in Sausalito, that serve delicious and fresh brunches (if you are in the bay Area I strongly recommend it) besides, their bread is absolutely the best in the Bay Area. Last Sunday, I ordered a pot de crème a l’expresso served with financiers (little almond cakes) for dessert, and I fell in love with them. Now that is my ultimate favorite treat after lunch. Pot de crème is literally translated into “cream jar” or “cream pot” and they come in many flavors, chocolate, caramel vanilla, etc…

I have tried many versions as an attempt to reproduce the same pots de crème, the first tentative was more like a flan than a creme, too much coffee and not sweet enough. The ratio milk/cream and egg was not right. There were too many eggs for the quantity of milk/cream. So I decreased half the eggs for the same quantity of milk/cream and they turned out too liquid. So I finally found the right ratio after a few tentatives. When you have the right quantities it’s such an easy dessert to prepare, so simple and quick too.

These pots de crème are delightful and if you like coffee, you’ll be in heaven. I will make these on a regular basis from now on.

Ingredients for 3-4 pots de crème (depending on the size of the cups)

• 10.14 fl oz (or 300 ml) milk
• 3.38 fl oz (or 100 ml) cream
• 1.41 oz (or 40 g) sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 yolk
• 1 small espresso cup of espresso

Preparation

Pre-heat oven at 320F

In pot, mix cream, milk, sugar, and coffee and let it boil. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and yolk well. Pour the milk mixture on top of the eggs and stir well.

Strain mixture to remove the foam and pour in small cups.

Place in a water bath and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. remove from oven and let cool. Place cups in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Serve with a dollop of creme fraîche in the center and sprinkle with coca powder, or coffee beans.