Panna Cotta with Caramel and Chocolate Sauces
Panna cotta (from Italian cooked cream) is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk, and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It is generally believed to have originated in the Northern Italian region of Piedmont, although it is eaten all over Italy, where it is served with wild berries, caramel, chocolate sauce, or fruit coulis. It is not known exactly how or when this dessert came to be, but some theories suggest that cream, for which mountainous Northern Italy is famous, was historically eaten plain or sweetened with fruit or hazelnuts. Earlier recipes for the dish did not directly mention gelatin, but instead included a step in which fish bones were boiled; this is now known to extract collagen from the bones, which turns to gelatin. Sugar, later a main ingredient, would not have been widely available as it was an expensive imported commodity. After years this treat evolved into what is now a gelatin dessert, flavored with vanilla and topped with fruit or spices, and served chilled.
Info from wikipedia
Panna Cotta with Caramel and Chocolate Sauces
Ingredients
- 2-1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (2 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
Garnish:
- Caramel sauce
- Chocolate sauce
- Honey & Lemon zest
- Mint leaves
Grease 6 ramekin dishes.
Directions
- In a medium saucepan, simmer cream, sugar and vanilla bean on medium heat.
- After 5 minutes, remove from heat, and allow to steep with the lid on for 15 minutes.
- Place water in a small bowl. Add the gelatin and allow to sit for 5 minutes for
- the gelatin to bloom.
- Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds from the pod. Stir the seeds
- into the cream mixture. Discard the pod.
- Rewarm the cream mixture 2 to 3 minutes, until warm but not hot.
- Whisk in the gelatin until blended and dissolved.
- Whisk in the yogurt.
- venly divide mixture among 6 ramekins.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
- When you are ready to unmold, run a sharp knife around the inside edge, then carefully invert the dish to let panna cotta come out.
- If there are any imperfections, just run a knife under hot water and use it to smooth the custard.
- Serve with your option of sauces.
