Panna cottas are fairly easy to make, can be flavored with classic flavors like vanilla bean to interesting things from grapefruit, to lavender, to Thai basil and you can put any fancy finishes you’d like on top of them. They do require some pre-planning because they need a minimum of six hours to set, but they are worth the wait. This luxurious and beautiful dessert is great for sharing or you can store them in the fridge and eat one or two a day! They have a clean milky taste with pops of flavor that tastes delightful with sips of a smooth coffee.
Recipe by Ian Lam – Cook’s Illustrated
What You Need
- 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) sugar
- 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- Pinch of table salt
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean
- 2 cups buttermilk
- Honey
- Fresh raspberries and/or blackberries
How to Make It
- Whisk sugar, gelatin, and salt in small saucepan until very well combined. Whisk in cream and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using top of paring knife, scrape out seeds. Add bean and seeds to cream mixture.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture registers 150 to 160, about five minutes. Remove from heat and let mixture cool to 105 to 110 degrees, about 15 minutes.
- Strain cream mixture through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Gently whisk in buttermilk.
- Set eight 5-ounce ramekins on rimmed baking sheet. Divide buttermilk mixture evenly among ramekins. Invert second rimmed baking sheet on top ramekins and carefully transfer to refrigerator. Chill for at least 6 hours or up to three days (if chilling for more than 6 hours, cover each ramekin with plastic wrap).
- Working with 1 panna cotta a time, insert pairing knife between panna cotta and side of ramekin. Gently run knife around the edge of ramekin to loosen panna cotta. Cover ramekin with serving plate and invert panna cotta onto plate. (You may need to gently jiggle ramekin.)
- Drizzle each panna cotta with honey, then top with 3 to 5 berries and serve.
