Lazy Panna Cotta in 15 min

We are moving back to Europe in 3 weeks and since we cannot bring any food items in our shipment, we are busy finishing off all the items in our pantry, including that unflavored gelatin which I bought month ago and that is perfect for Panna Cotta.

Panna Cotta is a dessert which I prepare very often. It is easy, inexpensive, quick to prepare and impress guests every time. Beside you can find the ingredients anywhere in the western world.  Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert that literally means cooked cream… and it is really as simple as cooking cream. Here is how I prepare it:

Ingredients for 4 serving:

  • 1 pint or 500 ml of heavy whipping cream
  • One tablespoon of flavoring extract of your liking ( vanilla, almond, etc.). If you try stronger flavor like rose or orange blossom just add one drop.
  • an optional topping (jam, salty caramel, dry fruits, etc)
  • 1 pouch of unflavored gelatin* powder (or 3 sheets)
  • 1/4 cup of sugar

Preparation ( 15 min):

  1. Re-hydrate the gelatin in cold water. (Depending if you use powder or sheets, the process differs slightly, so just follow the instruction on the back of the package.)
  2. In a pot heat the sugar, cream and flavoring extract until the cream boils. Taste the mixture and add sugar or extract to your taste.
  3. Once the cream is boiling, remove it from the stove and add the gelatin. Stir the mix well for a minute and pour it in individual glasses.
  4. Let your Panna Cotta cool down in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
  5. Before serving you can add the topping to create a nice difference in texture.
* The origin of gelatin is rarely mentioned on the package thus it’s impossible to know if it comes from fruit pectin or animal byproduct. If you want to be sure that your dessert to be vegetarian, you can substitute with the fruit pectin sold for jam making.

PS: on the post image I made vanilla Panna Cotta with homemade Pineapple jam. One of my favorite combination so far was pistachio and rose… I will post my pistachio paste recipe soon.

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