If you love Italian food, you probably know the dessert called panna cotta. It's an easy, refreshing treat with a rich, creamy flavour and a delicate aroma that invites you to dig in. The method is wonderfully simple, so let's take a look.
Panna cotta is a silky dessert that's easy to make and enjoyed by children and adults alike. As well as the sweetness you'd expect from a dessert, it's refreshing thanks to the sweet-tart flavour of strawberries or other fruits. So if you're at home feeling the heat and want a tasty treat to cool you and your family down, try panna cotta.
What Is Panna Cotta?
Many people have seen or heard of it but never really got to know it. Panna cotta is a dessert from Italy made with simple ingredients. Its texture is soft, wobbly and smooth, rather like pudding but less sweet, with a refreshing tang from the fruit added to it.
Strawberry Panna Cotta
If you're looking for a panna cotta to enjoy in the afternoon, try this strawberry panna cotta: sweet and tangy, easy to eat and not too rich.
Panna Cotta Ingredients
- 4 gelatine sheets (4.5 × 2.5 inches)
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
- 1/2 cup fresh milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
- Strawberries and mint leaves, for decorating
Strawberry Jelly Sauce Ingredients
- 1/2 cup strawberry purée (frozen strawberries blended until smooth)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 gelatine sheets
- Lime juice, to taste
How to Make Strawberry Panna Cotta
- Soak the gelatine in iced water for about 5–10 minutes until soft.
- Put the whipping cream and milk in a pot over medium heat. When the milk starts to get hot, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Squeeze excess water from the softened gelatine, add it to the pot and stir until it melts completely into the cream (if it doesn't fully dissolve, the panna cotta won't be silky smooth). Turn off the heat and add the vanilla seeds.
- Make the strawberry jelly sauce: put the strawberry purée in a pot and heat until hot. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved, then add the lime juice and softened gelatine. Stir to combine and leave until cool.
- Spoon the panna cotta into the bottom of your glasses and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Once set, add the strawberry jelly and return to the fridge. When fully set, decorate with strawberries and mint leaves.
So what do you think of this sweet-and-tangy, refreshing dessert? This panna cotta is easy to make, needs little equipment and is so delicious you can make it again and again without ever getting bored.
