Panna cotta (“cooked cream” in Italian) is so silky, rich, and easy to whip up (if you can make Jell-O, you can make panna cotta) that I consider it the fanciest unfancy dessert ever. And I love to get funky with it by using glass ramekins, small glass jars, Little Owl stemless wineglasses, or even small coffee mugs as vessels to serve it in. Or chill it in colossal ice cube trays and pop out little squares. This creamy vanilla treat is a blank canvas for lots of fruit toppings, but I am a sucker for sunshiny Citrus and Mint Salad (below left). Note: If you are using gelatin sheets, be careful that they don’t stick together; they are very thin, and you need to pull them apart. Too much gelatin will make your panna cotta’s texture too firm; it’s all about the creamy jiggety-jig-jiggle!
SERVES 6
4 cups [960 ml] heavy cream
1/3 cup [65 g] sugar
1 Tbsp bourbon vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean
5 sheets of gelatin, or 5 tsp powdered gelatin
Citrus and Mint Salad (recipe follows), for serving
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract and whisk gently to combine. Use a sharp knife to slice the vanilla bean open and use the back of the knife to scrape out the seeds. Add both bean and seeds to the mixture. Bring the cream to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer and cook, whisking occasionally, for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
Working with one sheet at a time, add the gelatin and whisk into the cream mixture until it completely dissolves, about 10 seconds. The cooking cream bubbles up fast, so lower the heat if needed. Continue cooking and whisking until you have used up all the gelatin sheets. When the last sheet is dissolved, remove the cream from the heat.
Set a fine-mesh sieve over a large glass pitcher and strain the cooked cream, using a rubber spatula to push it through the sieve, giving that vanilla bean on the bottom of the sieve a smash or two with your spatula so you can eke out all the flavor.
Divide the cooked cream among your favorite vessels (see headnote) in 5 oz [150 ml] portions, filling about 1 in [2.5 cm] from the top. Cool at room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 2 days. Serve with Citrus and Mint Salad.
SERVES 6
