Panna Cotta – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Panna Cotta is one of those desserts that looks like it’s difficult to make, but in fact is quite easy. It doesn’t require many ingredients and you can customize the flavor easily. While I used passion fruit for this recipe you could easily swap it out for a different fruit.

To start, I added a 1/2 cup of passion fruit juice to a measuring cup and sprinkled unflavored gelatin on top. I let it sit for 15 minutes and then whisked it together.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat I whisked milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract and sugar together until the sugar dissolved and the mixture began to simmer. I them removed it from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. Letting the mixture cool is key. If it’s too hot when you add the passion fruit/gelatin mixture in the next step the gelatin will lose its ability to thicken and your panna cotta will not firm up.

Next, I whisked the passion fruit mixture into the milk mixture until it dissolved.

Once the panna cotta mixture was ready it was time to divide it among four ramekins. To make it easy to divide the mixture among the ramekins I transferred it to a measuring cup…

And then poured 1/2 cup of the mixture into each of the ramekins.

After letting it cool to room temperature, I covered the ramekins and refrigerated the panna cotta for at least three hours so it could firm up.

Now, this is the nerve wrecking part… Will it firm up? I ended up checking it after an hour and was happy to see that it was already firming up. And after letting it sit in the refrigerator a bit longer it was the perfect consistency. You could top the panna cotta with a raspberry sauce or some whipped cream, but I was fine eating it as is.

Looking for some more passion fruit recipes, try making a passion fruit pie, ice cream or a curd that could be used as a filling for cookies.

Passion Fruit Panna Cotta

Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

1/2 cup passion fruit juice*

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

3/4 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

*I used frozen passion fruit pulp that I defrosted in the refrigerator overnight.

Directions:

Add passion fruit juice to a small bowl and sprinkle the unflavored gelatin on top. Let sit for 15 minutes.

In a medium saucepan combine the milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract and sugar. Whisk the mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a bare simmer. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Whisk together the passion fruit juice and the gelatin and then whisk into the milk mixture to dissolve.

Divide the mixture among 4 ramekins and let cool to room temperature. Cover each and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours until the panna cotta has set.

I recently signed up for Food & Wine Magazine’s Daily email where I get one sensational (their words not mine) recipe emailed to me every day. I usually glance at the recipe and then delete the email, not because the dish sounds bad, but because I know I will never make it. A week or two ago I got one recipe that I knew I wanted to try… A Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberry Compote. I had panna cotta for dessert at a restaurant a few years ago and instantly loved it; granted that one was a Mango Panna Cotta with a Passion Fruit Sauce. I never attempted to make it myself because I thought that it would be difficult – the one recipe I came across was a bit intimidating but once I saw this one I knew I could handle it.

I began my shucking two ears of corn and then used a corn zipper to remove the kernels and boiled them for about 15 minutes until they were tender.

Following that I rinsed the kernels in cold water and then transferred them into the bowl of my food processor.

Meanwhile I sprinkled 1 1/2 teaspoons of unflavored gelatin powder over 1/4 cup of whole milk, which I let stand for 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan I combined whole milk, heavy cream, salt, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar and brought it to a simmer over medium heat whisking it to dissolve the sugars.

I then poured the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the gelatin mixture and stirred it until the gelatin dissolved.

I then poured the mixture over the corn in the food processor.

I pureed the corn and milk mixture until it was smooth and then strained it through a sieve pressing on the solids to get all of the liquid out and then discarded the solids.

I strained the mixture once again through the sieve and then placed the bowl in an ice bath until it was cool, stirring it occasionally.

And finally I divided the mixture into four 8-ounce ramekins, covered them and placed them in the refrigerator overnight so they could set. In all honesty, I had my doubts that I made the panna cotta correctly because it was so watery when I poured it into the ramekins. I checked one of them an hour or so after refrigerating it to make sure it was solidifying and I am happy to say I had made them correctly!

While the panna cotta was “baking” in the fridge I made the Blueberry Compote which couldn’t have been simpler. I combined blueberries with sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and kosher salt and mixed it until the sugar was dissolved and then let it stand for a bit (at least 30 minutes), stirring it occasionally.

The set panna cotta…

And topped with the Blueberry Compote.

This was absolutely delicious! The panna cotta was the perfect texture, silky and smooth, and the corn flavor was just perfect without being too sweet or having too much of a “vegetable” taste, for those of you who aren’t keen on eating your veggies.

Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Fresh Blueberry Compote

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Panna Cotta

2 ears of corn, husked

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk

1 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Blueberry Compote

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Pinch of kosher salt

1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions:

1. Make the Panna Cotta: In a medium pot fitted with a steamer basket, steam the corn until tender, 15 minutes. Let cool, then cut the kernels from the cobs (you should have 1 1/2 cups); discard the cobs. Transfer the kernels to a blender.*

2. Meanwhile, in a heatproof medium bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/4 cup of the milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.

3. In a small skillet, combine the remaining 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of milk with the cream, salt and both sugars and bring to a bare simmer, whisking to dissolve the sugars. Scrape the hot milk into the gelatin and stir until the gelatin dissolves. Pour the mixture into the blender over the corn and puree until smooth.

4. Strain the puree through a sieve into a large bowl, pressing on the solids; discard the solids. Strain again without pressing; discard any solids in the sieve. Set the panna cotta in an ice bath until cool, stirring occasionally. Scrape the panna cotta into four 8-ounce ramekins. Cover and refrigerate overnight until firm.

5. Make the Blueberry Compote: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve the panna cotta in the ramekins with the compote.

*I opted to remove the kernels from the cobs beforehand and boiled the corn for about 15 minutes and then drained it while running them under cold water to cool them. And instead of using a blender, I used a food processor.