May 23, 2005
Strawberry Panna Cotta
Panna cotta is a traditional Piemontese recipe -- the name means "cooked cream" in Italian. There are many variations of the recipe, but it is generally made by simply simmering together some cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, before letting it cool until set. The cream mixture can also be flavored, often with a vanilla pod, sometimes with fruit or fruit juice, but you could also experiment with tea, cocoa powder, and different spices or extracts -- not very traditional but also very good. Some people enjoy the panna cotta on its own, but it is usually served with a sauce (often a berry coulis), which adds some sweetness: the cream itself is supposed to be only subtly sweet.
A couple of months ago, two of my cousins, my sister and I had dinner together with our respective darlings at an Italian restaurant in the 15th called Swann et Vincent (named after the two little boys of the previous owner -- three locations in Paris). For dessert, each couple shared an order of panna cotta (isn't that sweet). Now, panna cotta is not usually my first choice, especially when a large and moist chocolate cake is winking at me from the dessert counter, but we had eaten well -- those people make an astounding herb focaccia -- and panna cotta sounded like a good way to end the meal with something sweet, yet not too heavy.
The panna cotta was very good, and when the chef appeared behind the bar after the meal, my cousin's wife Guénola and I asked him if he could possibly share the recipe. He hesitated for a moment (he is probably not used to customers asking him for a recipe, I think this is pretty rare in France, and may even be considered impolite or undistinguished by some, but hey, we took the risk), then smiled and told us the list of ingredients and their amounts. It turned out to be much simpler than I thought, and I jotted it all down on the restaurant card as we stepped out, promising all the girls in our party that I would tell them if I tried reproducing it (the boys were strangely uninterested, you could tell who insisted on dessert in the first place).
And this is the recipe I used (scaling it down to a quarter, they obviously make bigger batches at the restaurant!) for dessert when Derrick and Melissa came to dinner a week ago. I served it with fresh strawberry coulis (a breeze to make and so much tastier than store-bought), a few fresh strawberries and a Petit Beurre, the classic French butter cookie. Definitely a make-again dessert, so fresh and fruity and pretty!
PS: This came after a cheese course, served with traditional baguette and baguette des prés, the multigrain baguette I love so much, and featuring cheese bought at the market that morning: a semi-dry goat cheese from the Ferme de Bréviande (Loir-et-Cher), a tome de brebis (sheep's milk), a runny and super-flavorful goat cheese with sarriette (summer savory) and a Nivernais, a deliciously creamy cow's milk cheese from the same-name region. I think we got our dose of dairy for at least a week.
Strawberry Panna Cotta
Pannacotta:
- 1 C (250ml) whipping cream
- 1 C (250ml) milk
- 1/4 C (50g) sugar
- 1 tsp (2g) agar-agar (or 1 1/2 sheets of gelatin: see instructions)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
Strawberry coulis:
- 9oz (250g) fresh strawberries
- 1/4 C (50g) sugar
Optional, for decoration:
- 12 small fresh strawberries
- four butter cookies (Petit Beurre for instance)
(Serves 4.)
Panna cotta. Combine all the pannacotta ingredients (if using gelatin, see instructions below) in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring from time to time (do not let it boil). Let cool for five minutes. Rinse four half-cup ramequins or bowls quickly under cold water, do not dry (this will help unmold them if you choose to), and distribute the pannacotta mixture evenly among them. Keep in the refrigerator until firm, about three hours or overnight.
Important note: if you are using gelatin instead of agar-agar, do not combine the gelatin with the rest of the ingredients. Instead, soak the sheets in a bowl of cold water while you bring the other ingredients to a simmer, then press dry with your hands (they will be soft), and whisk into the pannacotta mixture while it cools.
Strawberry coulis. Rinse the strawberries quickly under cool water and drain. Cut the stems off, and cut strawberries in quarters. Combine in a small saucepan with the sugar and two tablespoons of water. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat immediately. Pour into the bowl of a blender or food processor and mix with short pulses. Cover, let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serve the panna cotta in their ramequins topped with a layer of coulis, or unmold them carefully onto plates and drizzle with the coulis. In both cases, you can decorate each plate with three whole strawberries and a butter cookie.
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Comments (29)
Permalink | Posted by clotilde in Desserts & Sweets - Recipe Inside!
looks lovely! i love panna cotta and will be trying the recipe soon with some blueberries! =C) thanks for sharing...
Posted by may on May 23, 2005 2:17 PMso pretty! and it looks so easy to make! I need to add more desserts to my repertoire. Right now, I do appetizers and my husband is the main-course man, but no one covers desserts.
Posted by Kate on May 23, 2005 3:19 PMMmmmmmmm. I might well have a go at this - and it's veggie too, without gelatine! I had the most stunning dessert some time back, a lemongrass pannacotta. *dribble* I'm going to try tor recreate that with the help of this recipe, I think.
Posted by nattie on May 23, 2005 4:43 PMThanks for this yummy post, I love panacotta. We had a great one at the wine dinner in my restaurant last month, I posted about in in my blog. http://fancyglass.blogspot.com
Ours was made with Okinawan Takan, a kind of small tangerine.
*lauren
Posted by lauren in Tokyo on May 23, 2005 4:53 PMLast year, my first attempt at panna cotta was a failure and I gave up. I am inspired to try again.
Posted by Cocoaloco on May 23, 2005 5:20 PMI've never had this dish before. It's lovely! I can't wait to try it. I might also try replacing 1/2 of the milk with unsweetened coconut milk?... sounds refreshing too. Moira
Posted by Moira on May 23, 2005 5:21 PMPanna cotta...yum...wish it had been on the menu the time we ate at the Swann and Vincent in a passage in the 11th!
Posted by Cara on May 23, 2005 6:47 PMone of THE desserts! The velvet texture of it ~ I think it's a "either you do or you don't like it" dish. I know some who find it all too too too rich, as in cream rich.
However MOI can never have enough from the dairy :-)
The coulis topping I will try. (reads like Yoda!)
Posted by joan on May 23, 2005 11:13 PMbonjour Clotilde,
Posted by aude on May 24, 2005 12:29 PMj'ai aussi découvert dernièrement que la panna cotta n'était pas si compliquée à faire. Tu as eu raison de demander la recette :"qui ne tente rien n'a rien". bises.
Strawberry is the fruit what I like the most.
Posted by chocopie on May 24, 2005 3:07 PMHarmony of fresh strawberry and cream.
I'll try to make it
Panna cotta is one of my favourite desserts! Deflina in San Francisco has a buttermilk panna cotta that I would die for everytime!
Posted by Seán on May 24, 2005 11:49 PMBonjour, Clotilde! I've always seen fancy variations on panna cotta, but it's great to see this simple version. I only have envelopes of gelatin available to me. Should I measure them out to 1 1/2tsp or what? Thanks! :)
Posted by Edward on May 25, 2005 12:11 AMPanna cotta is even better if you substitute coconut milk for 2/3 of the milk & cream, that is, 166ml milk-and-cream, 333ml coconut milk. It's a Michel Bras inspiration.
Posted by Kitten on May 25, 2005 5:58 AMmarvelous recipe ... just what I was looking for ... thank you.
Posted by Becca on May 26, 2005 5:48 AMI adore panna cotta, and yours looks absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to try it.
Posted by Lyn on June 1, 2005 6:11 AMI tried the recipe but unfortunately it didn't come out as i had hoped for. It was very stiff.I'm pretty sure i mesured the agar agar correctly (i used the powder kind)...I cooked it until it started to simmer and the only thing i did do that wasn't in your recipe was to leave it sit for a bit longer than five minutes before putting it in refridgerator. I also used a wisk to mix the warm cream as a layer of cream skin was forming on top when it was cooling...any sugestions?? thanks!
Posted by kali on June 4, 2005 7:14 PMKali - Sorry yours didn't turn out the way you hoped. Can I ask how you measured the agar-agar -- by the teaspoon or by the weight? Also, what is the brand of your agar-agar? I used a brand called "Lima". One thing I'm thinking is that maybe different brands could have different jelling powers...
Posted by clotilde on June 5, 2005 5:06 PMThere is nothing like a nice dessert after a nice meal and the Panna Cotta looks amazing. The strawberry topping looks alot like the strawberry jam my grandma used to make a long time ago. I enjoy blueberries to and would love to experiment with different toppings.
Looking forward to trying this one out.
Posted by Chef Tony on June 9, 2005 5:03 PMA nice combination; we enjoyed it tonight (we had gotten more fresh strawberries than we expected, so were looking for some good use for them) -- quite delicious. For the Panna Cotta, though, we used this version, but without the caramel: http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/swiss/panna-cotta1.html
Note that, since it's 100% cream and no milk, the taste will be somewhat cream-heavier than the version you describe. Also note the Cognac (I actually use Whiskey) as a secret ingredient giving another bit of taste to it.
Posted by Thomas on July 10, 2005 12:00 AMbonjour,
Posted by clothilde on July 17, 2006 3:10 PMj'adore la panna cotta, je viens de découvrir ce dessert et je le décline de toutes les façons. (I change for english). I just want to ask why you are heating the strawberries and the sugar before mixing them, is there a difference if you don't heat them ?
another question more personal, we share the same first name, clothilde (mine with an H, like mathilde, brunhilde, old teutonic origins ....) but now very frenchy, why is your site all in english ?
I forgot to say that your blog is absolutely beautiful, and you have big talent in photography and writing.
Posted by clothilde on July 17, 2006 3:13 PMfor me it is the best blog about food on the net
HI,i really did that week a ago and really good to eat , but if got more to have u ll gonna feel greasy
Posted by Felix on August 21, 2006 7:20 AMPanna cotta is very common all over Italy. My favorite was in a corny diner near the duomo in Firenze flavored with espresso. Too much cream makes it greasy, I think. What advice for adding non milk materials to the pudding itself?
Posted by Kimberly on August 22, 2006 8:11 PMI have been thinking of making this, but using rosewater and orange zest as flavorings instead of vanilla, to give it a slightly mideast flair. I'm been trying my hand at creating bowls from half of an orange peel which has been candied and then brushed inside with chocolate. I think this panna cotta would make a lovely dish for the edible bowls.
Posted by Christian on October 23, 2006 2:17 PMsimply divine. made it with a twist last nite using green tea instead of vanilla. turned out perfect. thanks for sharing it! i've been inspired to do more variations now.
Posted by Meg on April 21, 2007 7:22 PMI live in malaysia and am not sure if the size of gelatin we get here is the same. Can you tell me how big or how heavy is a sheet of gelatin? thank you
Posted by Sean on April 21, 2007 11:27 PMAfter reading your recipe, I decided I had to give it a try and I am so glad I did. My husband and I devoured the whole thing in literally two minutes--it was that delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I know I will make it again and again.
Posted by Angela Dalton on April 22, 2007 2:26 AMThis recipe looks worth trying, but aren't you supposed to serve it unfettered by a glass container, so that it jiggles in a sexy way when you bring it to the table??
Posted by MaxMillion on May 8, 2007 7:31 PMthis looked like a nice recipe. But mine came out much too firm. I used NOW agar brand.
Posted by aak on October 19, 2007 5:10 AMPrivacy. The email addresses you enter will not be used for any other purpose than the sending of this message.