21 June 2006

Creamy vanilla-y goodness

It's no great secret that I absolutely adore panna cotta.

Every spoonful sends me into a rapture.


It's creamy and sweet. In my humble opinion it's sort of like the most decadent combination of ice cream and custard all at once. Which is probably why I love it so.

Whenever I have it in a restaurant, they always gild the lily by drizzling a coulis or some sort of sauce on it. This is fine, but I prefer it unadorned...and unmoulded. I do not apologize for getting out my spoon and tucking in directly into the ramekin, or any other container this luscious pudding is set in.

I've had several types of panna cotta, including cardamom, mocha and various fruit-infused ones, but I think my favourite one is vanilla. Clean and simple, I think it's one of the best ways to highlight this most amazing spice.

Vanilla Panna Cotta
Ingredients
2-1/2 teaspoons of gelatine powder
2 tablespoons cold water
250ml light cream
425ml heavy cream
100g sugar
1 dessertspoon vanilla extract

  • Soften gelatine in water.
  • Simmer the light cream in a small saucepan and then take it off the heat and add the softened gelatine. Stir well.
  • In another pan, pour in the heavy cream and sugar and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Take off the heat. Pour in the now cooled gelatine mixture and vanilla extract and stir well.
  • Pour into ramekins and chill in the fridge until set
  • If you want to unmould it, let the ramekin sit in warm water for couple of minutes an turn out onto a plate. To gild the lily, serve with a coulis, light chocolate sauce or some toasted almonds.

cheers!
jasmine

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum! Looks good! As does your strawberry ice cream below!

Paz

K and S said...

mmm, pannacotta, I didn't know about this one until I came to Japan. Love it! Yours looks great!

Kat

Kate Croft said...

this post came at the perfect moment - i was considering trying to make panna cotta today for the first time. thanks for steering me away from cardamom, which i was also considering. vanilla all the way it is!

Anonymous said...

I agree with you about the clean and simple ... panna cotta is best that way.

Gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I can't resist the smell of vanilla. It's just heavenly. Thanks for sharing this recipe since I was thinking of something to do with my gelatin powder

jasmine said...

Hello all

Paz-- thanks! Creamy dreamy desserts and all that :)

Kat -- it is so easy to make, I'm surprised it took me until last year to try making it.

Welcome Kate! Quite honestly, I think vanilla or unflavoured is best--sweet and yummy. Hope yours turned out well.

Ivonne--we are sisters separated by the mere facts of different birth parents, aren't we?

Hi Charles--my only advices is to NOT use the entire packet of powder for a half-litre of fluid...it sets too firmly...you want it soft and luscious with a bit of resistance ;)

j

Anonymous said...

Sounds divine! You always tempt me with your fabulous vanilla concoctions!

Sherri said...

I just found your site !
I'm Canadian too! Go Canada! Believe or not, I have never had Panna Cotta, this looks awesome.
Food photos are great!

jasmine said...

Hi Rorie -- glad you like this series.

Sherri -- Welcome! You really should try panna cotta--I'm sure you have some lovely ones in those fabulous NYC restaurants of yours!

j