Panna Cotta: Recipes & Techniques

[newguy]

Right now at work we have a lemongrass infused coconut panna cota. Pretty good. I am not a pastry person, but I know it's just cream, coconut, and gelatin. Barely any cooking, just enough for the cream to melt the gelatin.

[Craig Camp]

This thread could be useful!

[Bux]

Claudia Flemming used to make wonderful pannacottas at Gramercy Tavern in NY. I wonder if they are still on the menu and as good.

[Suvir Saran]

Bux the pannacottas made by Meredith Kurtzman at Esca and Heather Carlucci at Jacks Fifth were another league completely. It is their usage of very little gelatin that makes them really spectacular. Have you tried the versions at either of those places? I know Meredith does not work at Esca anymore.. and Jacks Fifth is closed, but they were truly amazing renderings of this very simpl dessert.

[agnolottigirl]

I've had buttermilk panna cotta a couple times now in restaurants and would like to try making it at home. I've made "regular" (ie, cream) panna cotta and am wondering, what difference does buttermilk make? Can I just substitute buttermilk for cream in the recipe (Hazan) I have already?

And one more question: when you add "stuff" (for example, I had one version with wild Maine blueberries in it that was simply delish--they sort of sank to the bottom, or they were layered in the bottom in the first place, maybe?), any advice re how much/consistency/etc.?

Thanks

[agnolottigirl]

Ok--in case anyone else is interested, I found a few recipes (one w/ tropical fruit and one w/ strawberries) on epicurious. Am guessing the buttermilk just makes things tangy. . . it appears that you do not substitute buttermilk for cream after all.

[Michael Laiskonis]

Try substituting half of your cream with buttermilk. It will add that acidity and make your panna cotta lighter, but because the buttermilk has a thick viscosity like that of cream, you should still be able to acheive that rich texture.

A word on using tropical fruits... in their raw state, some fruits contain an enzyme that will slowly break down- or inhibit altogether- the proteins in your gelatin. Mango, papaya, kiwi, pineapple are but a few examples. A very gentle cooking will generally destroy the enzyme...

[agnolottigirl]

Thanks, Michael. . .there is no way I'd ever have guessed that. I would have just wondered why I ended up with a soupy mess!

[cjsadler]

There was one in Saveur a few months ago (sometime in the fall), as part of a story on milk in the kitchen, which was originally from the Gramercy Tavern. Try their website. I was going to pit this against a regular panna cotta to see which one I liked best for an upcoming dinner.

[alanamoana]

just a note, the claudia fleming panna cotta is great, but it isn't one which can stand alone (meaning unmolded)...it is not set with much gelatin so it should be served in a container.

[KarenS]

Chill your mixture over ice (stirring frequently), until it is thickened enough to weight down your berries. Put the berries in your molds and pour.

[Wendy DeBord]

I haven't tried Flemmings recipe yet, but I use Martha's regularly and reccomend it. It's probably posted on her site.

[ComeUndone]

I really want to make a dessert that showcases the velvety smoothness of milk chocolate. Bounced around a few media including mousse, parfait, pots de creme but I'm thinking perhaps a panna cotta might be a refreshing idea. However, I'm stuck in terms of how to incorporate milk chocolate into panna cotta. If I understand correctly, in order to impart enough chocolaty flavour, the amount of chocolate added to the mixture will harden up the panna cotta for sure. Is adding cocoa my only option?

Thanks in advance.

[Ganache8]

I think you're good to go. I've used a panna cotta recipe from the Grand Finales book with good success but used dark chocolate & cocoa powder. I was worried as you were about the chocolate flavour coming through. Biggest problem was cocoa powder settling on bottom of mold as little specks. You can decrease the amount of gelatin to counteract the firming qualities of chocolate--good experimenting!

[nightscotsman]

I think it sounds fine, but aren't we basically talking about chocolate pudding here? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

As you mentioned, the chocolate will make the finished product thicker, so you might want to play with reducing the amount of gelatine. In fact, since the base of panna cotta is milk/cream you might be able to use a smaller amount of dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate and achieve a milk chocolate flavor. Another idea (that may sound out of left field, or even icky to some people) is to use a bit of evaporated milk to give the mix a bit of that caramelized/cooked milk flavor that some milk chocolates feature.

[McDuff]

Try steeping cocoa nibs in the mix. I make a range of chocolate things from cocoa nib panna cotta, to milk chocolate pot de creme, to double chocolate pudding. Every color of the chocolate rainbow.

[Lesley C]

Good idea. Sounds nice. I say, go for it.

Go easy on the milk chocolate and maybe serve it with a bitter chocolate sauce. It will taste like jellied chocolate milk -- a bit like what Frederic Bau recently served at his chocolate tasting menu dinner in Montreal and New York (though he used agar agar and the consistency was crumbly instead of melting -- rather gross).

[chocophile]

I have to agree with Lesley about the texture of Bau's "trio of chocolate gelees" it was awful. I was at the dinner at the Mark Hotel here in NYC a couple of days later, so it's interesting to hear that it was deliberate, not an accident. (I did not really want to believe that that texture was what he was looking for.)

CU: There's a restaurant here in NYC called Supper that does a hazelnut panna cotta but they way they serve it is tres cool. The waiter comes by with a copper pot of chocolate sauce and basically asks you to "say when" when enough sauce has been poured. Not exactly what you' asked about, I know, but the presentation is very unusual and will get a lot of notice.

I also second McDuff's recommendation to steep nibs in the milk/cream. You can change the flavor by varying the amount of time and/or quantity of nibs used and it won't affect the texture of the finished product; just strain through cheesecloth to catch all the little bits.

McD: I use this technique to make many things, and so I am looking for something to do with the nibs after. They are very soft, and I wonder if there's some way to grind them into a paste and use them in a filling between layers of something. Do you do anything other than just toss them?

:Clay

[ComeUndone]

Thank you for all of your wonderful feedback. Since I can't get my hands on some cocoa nibs yet, I'll try a different approach tonight.

I was reading Claudia Fleming's book last night and thought the flavouring used in her milk chocolate malted ice-cream may work for a panna cotta. The flavouring will be 3:1 ratio of milk chocolate to dark chocolate + enough malted to my liking. I'll report back later with my finding.

[tan319]

There's a recipe for chocolate panna cotta at Partistry.com, Jehengir Metha's site, that's pretty good, I adapted it a bit and used milk chocolate for a panna cotta I put on a chocolate tasting plate I was doing.

I played around with the amount of gelatine I used too.

I wouldn't use cocoa for it.

I infused mine with lemon zest also,it's a surprisingly good combo, IMO.

Orange would go good with milk chocolate also.

Good luck!

P.S.: word of advice.

Let your mix cool down in an ice water bath just until room temp before pouring into molds, giving it a stir every once in awhile.

And make sure you cover well, you'll get a skin, otherwise.

[ComeUndone]

Just a few notes on some of my findings:

Recipe 1 [based on chocolate panna cotta on Partistry.com]

- I used too little gelatine (6g powder). The end product was still pourable after 2 days in the fridge. I thought 4 sheets of gelatine is equivalent to 11g powder gelatine but apparently, more is required in this recipe

- mixture was only flavoured with milk chocolate (I used Lindt Excellence with 30% cocoa 20% milk solid). Yes, it's rich and creamy but reminds me too much of chocolate milk. Expensive chocolate milk.

Recipe 2 [malted chocolate panna cotta]

- 375mL 35% cream, 125mL whole milk, 6g powder gelatine, 60g granulated sugar, 0.5oz dark chocolate (Lindt Excellence 85%), 1.5oz milk chocolate (Lindt Excellence), 65g malted (i.e. Classic Ovaltine)

- sets to good texture but can be a bit softer

- love the flavour! Perhaps I'm biased because Ovaltine is one of my all time favourite drink. However, the milk chocolate flavour is only a supporting role. It's malted all the way.

I think instead of making a panna cotta, I'll use the second recipe as a filling for a tart in my chocolate tasting plate. Hopefully I'll have some pictures tomorrow.

[FistFullaRoux]

Recipe 2 [malted chocolate panna cotta]

- 375mL 35% cream, 125mL whole milk, 6g powder gelatine, 60g granulated sugar, 0.5oz dark chocolate (Lindt Excellence 85%), 1.5oz milk chocolate (Lindt Excellence), 65g malted (i.e. Classic Ovaltine)

- sets to good texture but can be a bit softer

- love the flavour! Perhaps I'm biased because Ovaltine is one of my all time favourite drink. However, the milk chocolate flavour is only a supporting role. It's malted all the way.

I think instead of making a panna cotta, I'll use the second recipe as a filling for a tart in my chocolate tasting plate. Hopefully I'll have some pictures tomorrow.

That sounds incredible. I read this and my mouth started watering.

[duckduck]

I like the idea of using the cocoa nibs. That sounds great. Makin' me hungry! Mmmm...chocolate...breakfast of champions!

[tan319]

Just a few notes on some of my findings:

Recipe 1 [based on chocolate panna cotta on Partistry.com]

- I used too little gelatine (6g powder). The end product was still pourable after 2 days in the fridge. I thought 4 sheets of gelatine is equivalent to 11g powder gelatine but apparently, more is required in this recipe

- mixture was only flavoured with milk chocolate (I used Lindt Excellence with 30% cocoa 20% milk solid). Yes, it's rich and creamy but reminds me too much of chocolate milk. Expensive chocolate milk.

Recipe 2 [malted chocolate panna cotta]

- 375mL 35% cream, 125mL whole milk, 6g powder gelatine, 60g granulated sugar, 0.5oz dark chocolate (Lindt Excellence 85%), 1.5oz milk chocolate (Lindt Excellence), 65g malted (i.e. Classic Ovaltine)

- sets to good texture but can be a bit softer

- love the flavour! Perhaps I'm biased because Ovaltine is one of my all time favourite drink. However, the milk chocolate flavour is only a supporting role. It's malted all the way.

I think instead of making a panna cotta, I'll use the second recipe as a filling for a tart in my chocolate tasting plate. Hopefully I'll have some pictures tomorrow.

I don't know too much about Lindt but would think it's more of an eating chocolate then a cooking one.

I'll check my notes and see if I adjusted choc quanity.

I thought you were using sheet gel.

Did you weigh your powder and bloom it well?

Didn't leave it in the melting pan?

Powders tricky.

[Lesley C]

ComeUndone, each sheet of gelatin is 2g, so you had only 8g, as opposed to 11g in your recipe.