Panna Cotta

4.93 from 13 votes

Recipe video above. There's no reason to fear Panna Cotta! Turning it out is a breeze if you give the moulds a light oil spritz. As for the signature wobble? Just use the right gelatine to liquid ratio. It's not hard - it's listed in the recipe!

Note: Most Panna Cottas are quite flat. I like mine taller so I use an assortment of vessels as moulds - pudding moulds, tea cups, small coffee cups - anything that's taller than wider (so not ramekins), you lose about 30-40% of height when unmoulded.

See Note 5 if you are not un-moulding, the recipe is even easier!

Prep Time10

Cook Time5

Fridge setting7

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: custard no eggs, milk custard, panna cotta

Servings:

Calories: 253cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

Bloom gelatine:

2 1/2 tsp gelatine powder , unflavoured - can reduce to 2 1/4 tsp if not un-moulding (Note 1)
1/2 cup milk , full fat

Panna Cotta:

1 cup milk , full fat
1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste with seeds (substitute vanilla extract) OR 1 vanilla bean pod (see Note 6 for extra steps)
1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
1 pinch cooking salt / kosher salt
1 1/4 cups heavy or thickened cream , or whipping cream (un-whipped), not dolloping cream
Oil spray , neutral flavour (eg canola, not olive oil)

Decoration options

Pictured - Raspberry coulis (below), chopped pistachios, mint, raspberries
Other ideas - Fresh berries, shaved chocolate, fruit compote, passionfruit pulp, citrus slices, finely chopped mango or pineapple ,

Raspberry coulis option (optional)

250g / 8 oz raspberries , fresh or frozen (no need to thaw)
3 tbsp white sugar

Cups - Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

Bloom gelatine in saucepan 5 min, warm to melt. Add sugar, milk, vanilla and salt, once milk is warm, cool 10 min. Add cream, fridge 1 hr (stir), then pour into lightly oiled moulds. Fridge 6 hrs+, invert!

FULL RECIPE:

Bloom gelatine - Pour the 1/2 cup of milk in a small saucepan, sprinkle the gelatine across the surface then whisk in. Leave for 5 minutes - the gelatine will swell and look curdled.
Melt - Gently warm the gelatine mixture on medium low heat and stir until it melts and looks like lump-free milk again. Don't let it simmer.
Vanilla infused - Add the milk, sugar, vanilla bean paste and pinch of salt. Heat just to let the milk warm and stir gently to dissolve the sugar. Don't let the milk simmer or even get steamy or frothy, just gently warm.(Note 2) Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and leave for 10 minutes to let the vanilla flavour to infuse.
Add cream - Stir in cream. Pour into a large jug or bowl, clear glass is best (so you can check for seed sinking later).
Cool to thicken slightly - Refrigerate uncovered for 1 hour, stirring at the 30 minute and 45 minute mark, scraping along the sides (in case it starts to set). See Note 3 for why this step is important!
Check thickness - After 1 hour, the mixture should be a pouring cream consistency. Stir, leave for 15 seconds then check the underside to ensure the vanilla beans aren't settling back on the base.
(SOS: If you left it too long in the fridge and it sets, you can always gently re-melt in the microwave or stove and start again. Only make it warm, gelatine melts at a very low temp.)
Oil and fill moulds - Lightly oil spray 6 moulds (about 2/3 cup / 160ml each), then lightly wipe out excess. Divide mixture between moulds (if you spy lumps, strain).
Refrigerate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. (If not un-moulding, 4 hours is enough).

TURNING OUT PANNA COTTA:

Run knife around rim - Remove the Panna Cotta from the fridge. Run the tip of a small knife around the edge of the surface.
Remove - Invert mould onto a plate. Grip the plate and mould with both hands and give it an assertive shake to loosen the Panna Cotta (it might take a few goes). You'll hear and feel it "plop" out! (Note 4 for troubleshooting).
Serving - It's so silky and creamy, it's delicious plain though nice to pop a few berries for colour on top.
To decorate as pictured, spoon raspberry coulis onto the top and coax some drips down the sides (if you want). Sprinkle with pistachios, top with a raspberry, tuck in a mint sprig. Serve! (Also see in post for more decorating ideas).

Raspberry coulis

Put ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the raspberry juices start simmering, simmer for 5 minutes, mashing the raspberries as you go. Blitz with a stick blender tilt saucepan to submerge the head, else transfer into a jug), strain through a fine sieve to remove seeds. Cool completely before using, it thickens as it cools. To loosen if needed, add water 1 teaspoon at a time and mix thoroughly.

Notes

Makes 6 Panna Cottas about 1/2 cup each which is nice portion size to end a meal. Feel free to make them smaller or larger (especially if serving in glasses, hard to find such small ones).

1. Gelatine powder - Use regular gelatine powder from grocery stores, not the speciality ones sold in health food stores marketed as (for example) good gut health. I use McKenzie's. If using packets, open and measure with teaspoons to double check (you need 7g / 2 1/2 tsp).

If you aren't un-moulding, you can reduce to 2 1/4 tsp for a slightly more delicate set (little risky to do if inverting).

2. Milk warming - Just heat until lightly warm, just enough to dissolve the sugar. If you let it get hot (ie steamy / frothy), it will form a skin as it cools in the next step which you'll have to strain out when pouring into moulds. If the milk comes to a boil, it will kill the setting power of the gelatine.

3. Cooling step - I do this before pouring into moulds for 2 important reasons. Firstly, the mixture will thicken slightly so the seeds stay suspended (rather than settling on the base). Secondly, sometimes the mixture can split as it sets with the cream rising to the surface. Stirring as the mixture thickens will ensure the cream stays mixed throughout.

4. Warm water - If it won't come out with a few assertive shakes, briefly dip mould in warm water to loosen (as in, 2 - 3 seconds) but be careful not to melt the Panna Cotta. With thin metal moulds, just dip it in and take it straight out, and invert straight away.

5. Serving in glasses - If you're serving in cups rather than un-moulding, you can reduce the gelatine to 2 1/4 teaspoons for an even more delicate texture, don't oil the glass and 4 hours fridge setting is enough.

6. VANILLA BEAN POD EXTRA STEPS - Cut bean in half and scrape the seeds out. Rub the seeds into the sugar so they don't clump in the liquid. Follow recipe as written, add used pod into the milk. Leave to infuse for 30 minutes instead of 10 minutes. Remove pod, squeeze out milk gently, discard (or clean, dry, put in vanilla sugar jar). Stir in cream, then refrigerate for 45 minutes rather than 1 hour. Check well to ensure the mixture is thick enough to keep the seeds suspended - vanilla seeds scraped from pods sink more easily than seeds in a vanilla bean paste.

Make ahead - Keep in the fridge in the mould for up to 7 days. You can un-mould a few hours ahead of serving as long as you keep them on the serving plate covered with a large container or similar to prevent the surface from drying out (cling wrap will stick and ruin it!).

Useful tip - you can remelt set Panna Cottas then re-set it. Not sure why anyone other than I would do this (because I changed my mind about the mould I wanted to photograph 😅) but I feel it's a useful trick to know!

Nutrition per panna cotta, excluding toppings.

Nutrition