Original Italian Panna Cotta Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Italian panna cotta made of? ›

Panna cotta means “cooked cream” in Italy, and that's essentially what the base is: heated heavy cream (often with a little half-and-half or whole milk) set with powdered gelatin and flavored with vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

History. The name panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s, yet it is often cited as a traditional dessert of the northern Italian region of Piedmont. One unverified story says that it was invented by a Hungarian woman in the Langhe in the early 19th century.

One of the best known and frequently requested desserts, panna cotta – literally “cooked cream” – originated in Piedmont and is made of cream and sugar. There are different versions and flavorings.

Panna cotta can always be the right dessert — whether you're throwing a fancy party or a small one, have lots of time or no time, are gluten-free, dairy-free, allergy-prone, vegan, or simply craving a delicious and creamy sweet. It's perfect.

The gelatin gets stronger as it sits, so this will be a bit rubbery by days 4 or 5, but you can mitigate this by letting the panna cotta sit at room temperature for about half an hour before serving.

Panna cotta has its origins in Piedmont, but it is now commonly found in restaurants in other regions of Italy such as Tuscany and Umbria. In Piedmont, it was traditionally made with cream and thickened with egg whites (rather than gelatin) then baked in a bain marie with a caramel sauce.

Did you know that…? Panna cotta is probably the only dessert which can be made without eggs, flour, sugar and baking. Although panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before 1960, it is often regarded as a traditional Italian dessert of the Piedmont region.

If you find that your panna cotta separates into two layers, one that's creamy and one that's more gelatin-like — there can be two reasons. First, either your gelatin didn't bloom and dissolve properly when stirred into the cream. Second, the cream mixture boiled after the gelatin was added.

It celebrates the friendly familiarity of gelatin—so much less finicky than egg custards—while stripping its rococo stigma. And unlike its predecessor, the haughty crème brûlée, it doesn't require a blowtorch. Perhaps the dish is a '90s cliché, but panna cotta is one that's endured on its merits.

Unlike creme brulee, eggs are not used to thicken the mixture for panna cotta. Instead, gelatin is added before the mixture comes to a boil. It is then strained, poured into moulds and frozen till it sets. The cream is usually infused with vanilla or other flavourings before it is mixed with the other ingredients.

What is the difference between bavarois and panna cotta? ›

The main difference being, bavarois is made using a crème anglaise (english custard) base, i.e. bavarois contains egg yolks whereas panna cotta does not and hence makes an apt vegetarian option.

What Does 'Cannoli' Mean In Italian? In Italian, "cannoli" is the plural of "cannolo." "Cannolo" roughly translates to "little tube."

The ultimate panna cotta should have the perfect wobble — this is an indication of the texture, which should be silky, creamy, melt in the mouth but not too bouncy or rubbery. I'd rather a panna cotta that is more wobbly than too set, personally.

You can keep it softly set and serve it in a sparkling glass, or let it gel a little more firmly and pot it in a Dixie cup to unmold as a plated dessert. What's more, panna cotta has an extraordinary shelf life—it can keep 10 days or longer in the fridge, if tightly wrapped and protected from savory odors.

Blanc-manger, panna cotta or molded cream, the idea is similar: gelatin is added to milk and/or cream infused with herbs, spices or nuts.

Panna cotta tastes like a soft, milky pudding that has a firmer texture than pudding. It holds its shape when scooped, but melts in your mouth. It has a sweet, vanilla flavor, almost like ice cream but softer. It takes on the flavors of the fruit you serve it with.

Panna cotta is a gelatinized cream, much like an aspic. Creme brulee is a custard made with eggs. Both are thickened sweet cream, one is cooked on top of the stove and the other is baked in the oven; one is thickened in the refrigerator with gelatin while the other is thickened in the oven by the eggs.

Panna Cotta in Italian means cooked cream or cream that is cooked. As the name implies, the main ingredients in making Panna Cotta consist of cream, sugar, and gelatin. While the ingredients for making pudding consist of eggs or cornstarch and agar powder.

Unlike creme brulee, eggs are not used to thicken the mixture for panna cotta. Instead, gelatin is added before the mixture comes to a boil. It is then strained, poured into moulds and frozen till it sets. The cream is usually infused with vanilla or other flavourings before it is mixed with the other ingredients.