Thursday, January 05, 2012

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries

Vanilla panna cotta is such a refreshingly light yet extremely popular Italian dessert. These softly set and creamy Italian puddings are so silky smooth that they are just delightful to have at the end of a meal and they look really elegant too. It can be served simply with any type of fruit toppings, caramel sauce and even chocolate sauce and it is always one of my favorite desserts. Since I still have some vanilla beans I decided to use them to make this panna cotta instead of vanilla extract. As for the topping I macerate the strawberries in balsamic vinegar with a bit of sugar. The tangy taste of the strawberries goes so well with the silky panna cotta.




Ingredients:

2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp gelatin powder
3 tbsp water
1/3 cup sugar
½ vanilla bean – split and scrape the seeds
2 cups strawberries – clean and sliced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 ½ tbsp sugar



1. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin powder on the water. Stir and set it aside to allow the gelatin to dissolve and bloom.
2. Combined the milk, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla bean in a saucepan. Cook over low heat and just before it starts to boil, remove it from the heat.
3. Add in the gelatin and mix until they’re dissolved. Pour it into 4 ramekins or glasses and refrigerate until completely set.
4. Combined the strawberries, balsamic vinegar and sugar. Mix well and let is macerate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.
5. To serve, if using ramekins run a small knife around each the ramekins, dip the bottom of each ramekin quickly in a bowl of hot water. Invert onto a dessert plate and surround the panna cotta with strawberries. If using glasses, just top it with the strawberries and serve.

14 comments:

Lisa H said...

Nice one Gert... I 'loike'

Anisha said...

The panna cotta looks so beautiful served like this...

Linda said...

It looks so tasty n I love the presentation! Your pictures are so beautifully taken! Great job! Thank you. Can't wait to try out! Would it be ok if I substitute the vanilla bean with vanilla extract?

ann low said...

So pretty and yummy. Reserve one for me please :)

Unknown said...

Visually these are just stunning to serve.

Yummy Bakes said...

Looks very good. The other day my colleague let me tried hers and that was the first time I ate panna cotta but she never shared her recipe. I must book mark this to try.

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

sound very refreshing!

Shereen said...

Gert,
I have a similar recipe!!..but not sure if the ingredients are the same or not.I wanted to try this recipe out but you know the boys with their dislike for fruits kept telling me it won't be nice..hahaha.Now that you have made this, no reason why I shouldn't try also..hehehe

Shereen said...

Opps...forget to say...beautiful pics,Gert!!!!

K.Nor said...

hi gert! camna duk tempat baru? :)

lama betul tak komen kat yr entries.. geram jer bila tengok panna cotta ni. mmg dah jadi kesukaan nor sekeluarga terutamanya anak2 nor. next 2 day kena buat gak ni sbb ada guests nak datang rumah, yg ni hero sulong nor request suruh buat :)

mycookinghut said...

Love panna cotta and what's even better you serve with strawberry with balsamic.. yum!

ICook4Fun said...

Lisa, thank you :)

Anisha, thank you.

Linda, thank you, thank you. You can always use vanilla extract.

Ann, I will :)

Jennifurla, thank you.

Yummy Bakes, I hope you try this out one day and hope you like it.

Sonia, yes it is.

Shereen, thank you. We just love this dessert especially serve it with strawberries. Do try it out and your never know. Maybe the boys might like it.

Nor, apa kabar. Lama tak ada berita. Busy ke? I hope you guest like this panna cotta. Do let me know how it turn out :)

Leemei, yeap they are great combinations.

lyly said...

Gert, your pana cotta looks yummie. Nice pix.

LoLy said...

OMG, these looks soo cute, for sure i will make them :D
thank you