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- Panna cotta
Panna cotta
Ingredients
Step by step process
Making the panna cotta
- 1
Place the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water and leave them to soak for about 10 minutes until softened.
TIP:Place the gelatin in cold water for 10-15 minutes, never in hot water. Cold water prevents clumping and ensures even dissolution. Blooming is the first and critical step before dissolving in hot liquid.
- 2
Split the vanilla pod lengthways with a knife and scrape out the seeds with the tip of the blade.
- 3
Pour the cream into a saucepan, add the sugar, vanilla seeds and the scraped pod. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has fully dissolved and the cream just begins to steam, do not let it boil.
TIP:Heat the cream slowly over medium heat, stirring constantly. The correct temperature is reached when small bubbles appear around the edges and light steam rises. Never allow it to boil, this would damage the protein structure.
- 4
Remove the saucepan from the heat and take out the vanilla pod. Gently squeeze the softened gelatine sheets and add them to the hot cream. Stir thoroughly until the gelatine has completely dissolved.
- 5
Pour the mixture into four dessert glasses or moulds and leave to cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.
Strawberry sauce
- 6
Rinse the strawberries, remove the hulls and place them in a blender together with the icing sugar and lemon juice. Blend until smooth.
- 7
If you prefer a seedless sauce, strain it through a fine sieve. Keep the finished sauce in the fridge until serving.
Serving
- 8
Spoon the strawberry sauce over the set panna cotta and garnish with a fresh mint leaf. Serve directly in the glasses, or briefly dip the moulds in warm water and carefully turn the dessert out onto a plate.
TIP:Easily unmold a cold dessert by briefly dipping the bottom of the mold into a bowl of warm water (40-50 °C). The heat will release the dessert from the mold's surface, allowing it to separate cleanly.
More tips:
If you don't have a vanilla pod, replace it with one sachet of vanilla sugar or half a teaspoon of vanilla extract, add it to the cream along with the sugar.
Instead of strawberry sauce you can use fresh raspberries, blueberries or caramel sauce, panna cotta pairs beautifully with virtually any fruit.
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Topic: Italian Cuisine
