Espresso panna cotta

 

 

---

 

Panna Cotta in Italian means cooked cream, which essentially, it is. It is a rather loose “pudding’, not set so hard that it is stiff, and should have a slight jiggle on the plate. Normally you would serve panna cotta un-moulded. This often requires dipping the molds in hot water to loosen it up and inverting it onto individual dessert plate. It takes some coordination and “hold your breath” moments, hoping that it set properly to hold its own and look good on the plate.

Here is an easy recipe for a panna cotta that does not require un-moulding at the last minute, although, of course you can serve any panna cotta from its dish. I serve this one  in the glass and garnish before serving. All the elements can be made a day in advance which makes it nice when you are making this for company.

I prefer to use gelatin leaves in this recipe, I think they create a better texture, but if you prefer you can use regular gelatine powder. I think two teaspoons gelatine dissolved in 1/4 cup water should set this amount of liquid sufficiently. Perhaps reduce the amount of milk to 3/4 cup to compensate for the extra liquid.

Let me know how it goes if you make it.

Enjoy.

Serves 4.

---

Panna Cotta

---

 

Ingredients:

---

2 leafs gelatine, titanium strength (see note above)
2 cups cool water in a bowl

1/2 cup espresso, hot
4 tablespoons sugar

1 cup milk
1 cup cream

---

 

Directions:

---

 

Soften gelatine in water.

Warm up the milk and cream, do not boil.

Make espresso, add 5 tablespoons sugar and let dissolve, stirring.

Remove gelatine from the water and squeeze well, extracting as much water as you can.

Add softened gelatine to the espresso and stir to melt.

Add espresso mixture to the cream and stir.

Pour into martini glasses or similar, chill until firm.

Serve in the glasses.

---

Garnish:

---

♥   Espresso caramel (below)

♥   Crumbled honeycomb. If you don’t have honeycomb use another crunchy cookie or meringue.

♥   Berries

 

---

 

Espresso Caramel

---

 

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup espresso

Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small pot.

Cover and cook until the sugar is golden and caramelized.

Remove from heat and carefully add the espresso.

Return to heat and continue cooking until syrupy.

Cool before using.

 

---

---

 

 

 

---

---