This is only my second foray into the world of panna cotta, and as I am a novice when it comes to all things gelatine I took a “softly softly” approach. This recipe is actually terribly simple, but it does require some patience in waiting for the gelatine to dissolve. It is very important not to boil the gelatine or else you’ll end up with clumps that don’t taste particularly appetising.
This is a cheat’s version of raspberry coulis – you simply heat some frozen raspberries with some sugar (in the microwave works perfectly well!) until they soften and blend together. I really love the visual contrast of the bright red raspberry sauce with the cream panna cotta, speckled with vanilla bean seeds. The panna cotta was appropriately “wobbly”, and it slipped easily down the throat. The vanilla bean was strong and added so much additional flavour – far superior to vanilla essence (not that I’m knocking vanilla essence – it certainly has its place!).
You can vary the spices - for instance, the original recipe used cloves and vanilla essence. You could always infuse with a bit of cinnamon and ginger or nutmeg - the choice is yours! You could also serve with fruit of your choice - figs and honey is a classic combination for a reason!
- Prep Time:
20 min - Ready Time:
20 min
Ingredients
- 1 whole Vanilla bean
- 300 mls Thickened cream
- 2/3 cup Milk
- 2 tsps Gelatine
- 2 tbsps Caster sugar
- 1 handful Raspberries (frozen are fine)
- 1-2 tsp Sugar
Directions
- Grease 4-6 ramekins with butter.
- Scrape vanilla bean seeds into a small saucepan, add cream and milk and pop in the vanilla bean pod. Stir to combine.
- Stand the cream mixture for 10 minutes - this allows all the flavours to infuse.
- Sprinkle gelatine and sugar over the cream mixture.
- Turn the stove onto low and stir the cream mixture steadily until the gelatine and sugar dissolve. It is very important not to boil - better to take a long time than to ruin it with impatience! You can tell when they are dissolve as the little lumps of gelatine will be gone when you look at the mixture on a spoon.
- Pour the mixture evenly into the prepared rammekins. Allow to cool to room temperature.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours, or until set. You can leave overnight without any problems.
- Prepare the raspberry coulis - just a handful of raspberries with a teaspoon or so of sugar (to taste), and warm until the berries break down.
- You can serve the panna cotta in the ramekins if you wish, but for a bit of elegance, tip them out onto a plate and drizzle the raspberry coulis around. To extract more easily from the ramekins, try running a warm knife around the rim. I also found it helpful to keep the knife in on one side while tipping onto the plate, as this counteracts the suction effect.
24.05.10 | 
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