Recipe for Italian Panna Cotta
Creamy Homemade Dessert with Vanilla Pods and Candied Orange
Aug 16, 2009
Panna cotta means 'cooked cream' and is a delicious Italian dessert. It's said to come from Piedmont or Lombardy, in northern Italy, where the milk and cream are rich.
According to food writer Maxine Clark, the secret of a great panna cotta is ‘in the wobble’. It’s a classic Italian dessert, one that you’ll see on the menu in restaurants all over Italy. However, the rich, fresh flavour of homemade panna cotta just can’t be beaten. This is Maxine Clark’s panna cotta recipe, from her book Italian Kitchen (© Ryland Peters and Small £19.99): it appears here with permission. Maxine Clark suggests that if you are nervous about turning out your creamy desserts, then use 4 leaves or teaspoons of gelatine – though they won’t be as wobbly.
Panna cotta with Candied Orange Zest – Recipe
Ingredients – Serves 6
For the Panna cotta
- 500ml double cream
- 300ml full fat milk
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 vanilla pod, split
- 3 leaves of gelatine or 3 teaspoons powdered gelatine
For the candied Orange Zest
- 2 unwaxed oranges
- 50g caster sugar
Equipment - 6 moulds, about 125ml each
Method
- To make the panna cotta, put the cream, milk and sugar into a saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla seeds, then bring to the boil. Crumble or sprinkle the gelatine into the cream mixture and stir until dissolved. Strain through a sieve.
- Cool, then place in the refrigerator until it is JUST beginning to thicken. At this stage, stir the cream briskly to distribute the vanilla seeds. Pour into the 6 individual moulds, set on a tray and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, or until set.
- To make the candied zest, remove the zest from the oranges with a sharp vegetable peeler (removing any bitter white pith with a knife afterwards). Cut the zest into long fine shreds. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and blanch the shreds for 1 minute, drain then refresh in cold water.
- Put the sugar and 100ml water into a small pan and stir until dissolved. Add the orange zest shreds and bring to a rolling boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then strain the shreds through a sieve, reserving the syrup, and tip onto a plate to cool. Before they cool too much, use your fingers to separate the shreds out a little so that they don’t stick together.
- When ready to serve, press the top of the panna cottas and gently pull away from the edge of the mould – this breaks the air lock and they should drop out easily. If they don’t want to come out, you’ll need to dip each mould very briefly into warm water (be warned they will melt if the dipping water is too hot) and then invert onto the plate. Give the mould a good shake. The panna cotta should drop out.
- Decorate each panna cotta with the candied orange shreds and a spoonful of the reserved orange-infused syrup.
Try another recipe from Italian Kitchen: Saffron Risotto
The copyright of the article Recipe for Italian Panna Cotta in Regional Italian Specialties is owned by Rebecca Ford. Permission to republish Recipe for Italian Panna Cotta in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
 |
