Vanilla Panna Cotta

Panna Cotta has got to be the easiest desert ever! It's super quick with minimal ingredients and effort. You can play around with the flavors and add almost anything to the basic mix.

This is a recipe for a basic Vanilla Panna Cotta. You could add some good natural vanilla beans to make this dessert shine as there is only cream in it for flavor. I have paired it with strawberries and a fresh mango puree but you could get more adventurous. Try my STRAWBERRIES AND WHITE WINE SAUCE, sea salted caramel sauce or a simple berry puree.

You could also add a biscuit crust at the bottom of your glass.

Follow the recipe for the cheesecake crust here LIME CHEESE CAKE BERRY COULIS. I recommend making the Panna cotta in elegant glasses rather than trying to upturn them from bowls. It is rather tricky and might end up looking like a big blob!

More recipes on flavoured Panna Cotta coming up on the blog soon!

What you need:

3 gelatine leaves OR 2 tsp gelatin powder

1 cup double cream

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract or beans of one vanilla pod

2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 mango

Some cut fruits to garnish

Putting it all together:

1. Soak the gelatin leaves in a bit of water until the leaves are soft. If you are using the powder, combine with 4 tbsp of cold water and leave aside to swell up.

2. Heat together the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla extract and bring to a simmer.

3. Take the pan off the heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin leaves and mix in. With powder gelatin, just add in the gelatinized mix. Combine until the gelatin is dissolved.

4. Pour into lightly oiled ramekins if you wish to de-mould. Alternatively, pour directly into wine glasses/shot glasses/nice bowls to serve directly. Refrigerate overnight.

5. Blend the mangoes in a blender with some water to make a smooth puree. You can garnish with your choice fruits or some more mango cubes.

6. To serve, top the panna cotta with the fruit puree and fresh fruit pieces.