Panna Cotta Perfected

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have wanted to master a panna cotta, and I think I have settled on the right recipe for me. Ultimately, every recipe is some variation on the ratio of heavy cream to milk (or any other combination of dairy fats), with sugar, gelatin and flavoring.

For this particular version, I first made a raspberry fruit puree gelée (fruit puree slightly diluted with water and apricot nappage, to taste, with gelatin) and let it set in the mini cups on a slant. Then I made my panna cotta, using the recipe below, and poured it into the cups upright. Finally, I topped with some almond granola and a fresh raspberry. I originally intended to make a white chocolate basket for the raspberry but ran out of time. The result was still quite tasty and pretty!

Panna Cotta

Makes about 16 fl. oz.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (473 mL) heavy cream
• 1½ cups (355 mL) milk
• 5 Tbsp (~63 g) granulated sugar
• 4 sheets gelatin, bloomed (about one packet or one tablespoon of powdered gelatin)
• 1 vanilla bean (split and scraped)

Directions:

1. Heat heavy cream, milk, sugar and scraped vanilla beans until the sugar dissolves. Add the bloomed gelatin.
2. Cool in ice bath until lukewarm or just cool. This step helps prevent the fats from separating out into a two-layered panna cotta.
3. Pour into molds and chill for about 4 hours or overnight (although the longer you chill, the harder the panna cotta will be).