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.

Again it’s that time of the year…allergy season. Stuffy nose, runny eyes, and non stop sneezing, at least it’s a sign that warms days are ahead…of course a little energy for cooking related activities especially with the anti histamine pills that make me feel like my head is a giant pumpkin and weight 300 lb. So when you are in that type of mood and need to cook for a dinner, you’ll have to somehow find a menu that does not require too much standing, nor being too focus on too many details. Alors voilà, this is the last course of the menu, a very easy dessert for a chocolate tooth.

Sometimes it’s difficult to differentiate between two similar dishes, those pots de crème have the consistency of pot de crème but have the ingredients of a panna cotta. Panna cotta has no eggs in its mixture unlike pot de crème. Basically panna cotta gets its thickness due to the gelatin sheets or agar agar whereas pot de crème use eggs as thickening agent. So let’s say pot de crème are heavier and creamier therefore cannot be served upside down like panna cotta would thanks to the gelatin. Panna cotta is served with some sort of fruit coulis or flavored crème anglaise and pots de crème are served with whipped cream (as if there is not enough in the mixture!!). I see panna cotta the Italian version of the French pot de crème and I don’t think I have a preference, donc il n’y a pas de jaloux! (no one is jealous).

Ingredients for 7-8 people

• 5.29 oz (or 150 g) semi sweet chocolate
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 10. 14 fl oz (or 300 ml) low fat milk
• 2.46 oz (or 70 g) sugar
• 2 tbs vanilla extract
• 0.35 oz (10 g) agar agar or gelatin sheets

Preparation

Soak gelatin sheets or dissolve agar agar in water.

In a pot, mix milk, cream and sugar, then add chopped chocolate if using chocolate bars or you can also use chocolate chips. Bring the mixture to a boil allowing the chocolate to melt slowly. Let it boil for a few minutes, at that point,  the chocolate will be melted.

Remove from heat and add gelatin sheets (or agar agar) and stir well to let the gelatin dissolve completely in the mixture. Add vanilla extract.

Humidify small cups or ramequins. Pour the chocolate mixture, let it cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/04/either-way-its-good-chocolate-pot-de-creme-or-panna-cotta/feed/ 28 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/03/the-exotic-panna-cotta-coconut-panna-cotta-with-pineapple-rum-and-mint-chilled-soup/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-exotic-panna-cotta-coconut-panna-cotta-with-pineapple-rum-and-mint-chilled-soup http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/03/the-exotic-panna-cotta-coconut-panna-cotta-with-pineapple-rum-and-mint-chilled-soup/#comments Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:53:23 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=8244 Una panna cotta esotica – Panna cotta con noce di coco, e zuppa fredda di ananas, rum e menta

I have been on a strange coconut cravings lately, coconut and more coconut, if it was not as high in calories, I would eat it all day long and that goes the same for panna cotta which I absolutely adore. Vado pazza per la panna cotta! I realized that I do like desserts, as long as they’re fruit based. Maybe technically this cannot be called panna cotta, because it’s predominantly made with coconut milk, and a little cream, quindi la panna non c’è (there is not really panna).

Traditional panna cotta is delicious, but this one can be quite a pleasant surprise for your palate, as it’s lightly sweetened and creamy. I have been thinking and thinking and me creuser les méninges (litterally meaning to dig your meninges) to find a light dessert combining coconut and pineapple, and this one popped into my mind. Lately I have decided I will develop great recipes for entertaining which do not require the “host” to stay in the kitchen while everyone else is having fun next door. I do not like food that has been prepared too long in advance and re-heated at the time of serving. For some dishes, it could work, but for some others it doesn’t and taste like “réchauffé” (not only it means re-heated but also old and re-heated, with that unfresh after taste).

Pineapple has been crushed raw into a purée with an immersion blender, which is perfect for this kind of job. You get a perfect texture and do not need extra liquid. I used agar agar instead of regular gelatin sheets in the panna cotta since it’s a seaweed based gelatin and 100% natural and vegan. Agar agar has been used in Japan since centuries. It’s usually used to the proportions of 4 grams per 1 liter of liquid and needs to be dissolved in a small amount of cold liquid before adding it to the hot mixture.

This panna cotta is not too sweet, very light and so refreshing, so just THE little final note to a beautiful meal.

Ingredients for 4

For the panna cotta

• 10.14 fl oz (or 300 ml) coconut milk
• 3.38 fl oz (or 100 ml) milk
• 3.38 fl oz (or 100 ml) heavy cream
• 4 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp agar agar (or the equivalent of 2 grams)

For the pineapple soup

• 1/2 pineapple
• 3 tbs agava nectar
• 2 tbs rum
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ground vanilla beans powder
• 1 tbs mint, chopped

Preparation

In a pot, bring to a light boil milk, cream and coconut milk, add agar agar dissolved in a little milk, and let it cook stirring for a few minutes, then remove from heat. Add sugar and stir to get it dissolved.

Place in small ramequins, let it cool and refrigerate until it solidifies (at least a few hours).

For the pineapple purée, mix all ingredients together (except for the mint) and using an immersion blender, mix until it turns into a thick purée. Cut mint very finely and add to the purée. Refrigerate for about one hour.

Remove panna cotta from ramequins and spoon some pineapple purée all around.