Panna cotta

This young lady, this panna, didn’t turn up here by accident. She came courtesy of an unusual source of inspiration. Possibly a little spite, too, and even envy.

In fact, looking at the photos, I think I could safely call this recipe “The Blood-Spattered Lady” 😉

It was Jacek who put the idea of panna cotta, that ridiculously simple Italian dessert made with fresh cream, into my head. Actually, it was Kaja and Jacek. What really did it was that Kaja refrained from eating panna cotta, and Jacek documented her suffering (as she denied herself said dessert) and sent me the evidence.

So what’s all that about?

Inspiration — because the panna looked gorgeous.

Spite — because I don’t want to hold back (although maybe I have to, and I certainly ought to).

Envy — because someone can actually resist it?

Resist it, yes, because surely it’s utterly impossible to dislike panna cotta. Especially the classic sort, with real vanilla and slightly tart raspberry juice (admittedly not a particularly sophisticated accompaniment, but it was all I had). I recommend it.

PS

I think I’ve outdone even my worst efforts when it comes to photo quality. I offer something of an explanation in the recipe. Read on.

Luckily I still have one panna cotta in the fridge. Maybe I’ll manage to snap something prettier with that one. She’s my last hope, but two for breakfast would be pushing it a bit.

Still, you know it’s mainly the taste that counts around here, right?

At a glance: 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Chilling time: ideally 10 hours

Serves: enough for two small portions, just the right size (you can scale up the ingredients)

How many calories: hehehe, athletes and CrossFit folk (hello, Kaja and Jacek!) don’t eat things like this

Ingredients for a very simple but delicious Italian dessert:

• 200 ml fresh cream, 30% fat (one small carton)
• 60 ml condensed milk
• 1/4 glass of white sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 1 teaspoon of gelatine
• 60 ml warm water

Recipe for panna cotta, or cooked cream:

Despite appearances, this delicious Italian dessert is incredibly easy to make.

In a small saucepan over a low “flame” (on my induction hob, 3 on a scale of 1 – 10), I heated the cream, condensed milk, sugar, vanilla pod and vanilla seeds (I split the pod and gently scraped out all the seeds with a teaspoon). I stirred constantly until it came to the boil, so the sugar dissolved completely and the seeds dispersed evenly. Once it boiled, I took it off the “flame”.

I poured about 60 ml of warm, previously boiled water into a glass (roughly 1/4 of a glass) and added the gelatine. After a moment I stirred it so that the gelatine dissolved completely.

I poured the dissolved gelatine into the saucepan with the cooked cream, milk, vanilla and sugar. I mixed it thoroughly.

I poured it into tall glasses, filling them halfway up (a big mistake, as you’ll see below). Two glasses, because I had two portions. I left them to cool. Once cool, I covered them well with aluminium foil and put them in the fridge overnight. Once chilled, the lovely dessert is ready. You can serve it with raspberry juice or a fruit purée, preferably something slightly tart.

Now for that mistake. Don’t make it in tall, half-filled glasses like the ones in the photos below. Why? Because it’s hard to get it out. Even if you stand the glass in hot water for a moment, the panna cotta will either topple over as you turn it out (see the picture of the “Blood-Spattered Lady”) or fall spectacularly apart once you’ve transferred it to a bowl.

So after cooking the cream and mixing in the gelatine, pour it into low, narrow bowls. Once chilled, you can eat it straight from the bowl or turn it out onto a plate (dip the bowl in hot water first).

By the way, whatever it looks like, panna cotta made this way tastes superb. Enjoy!