White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

Panna cotta... doesn't it sound so indulgent and fancy?! I have only eaten panna cotta in restaurants, savouring every mouthful of the creamy, smooth texture. You would never have guessed that this classic decadent Italian treat only takes a maximum of 15 mins to make! Yes it really is that easy!

This recipe is the perfect recipe if you want to impress someone with a great looking as well as great tasting dessert. And with it being summer the strawberry coulis is a great compliment to the dish, adding more flavour and colour; who can resist strawberries?

I was inspired to make this after seeing a white chocolate panna cotta recipe on  'greedygourmet', it was the white chocolate which tempted me. I used different measurements to the recipe from that blog as I didn't want to make too many panna cottas and also wanted to experiment a little bit. Using the measurements below I managed to fill 4 moulds (but I guess it depends on the size of the moulds). I found that these measurements were perfect, the consistency of the panna cotta was just right; not too creamy, runny or solid, just pure perfection.

Time to make: 15 mins actual cooking time
Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

Panna Cotta:
284ml carton of double cream
225ml milk
3 tbsp white sugar
200g white chocolate chopped into little pieces
4 leaves of gelatine or 14g sachet of powered gelatine, and the correct amount of water according to instructions ( I used a 14g powdered gelatine sachet and mixed it into 150ml of hot water as this sets one pint)

Strawberry coulis:
200g strawberries
2 tbsp sugar
50ml water

Method:

Panna Cotta:

1.Oil the panna cotta moulds (I used a oil spray as it is much easier to just spray it on the inside of the moulds).

2.Heat the cream, milk and sugar in a saucepan until nearly boiling.

3.Take off the heat and add the chopped pieces of white chocolate and stir until all melted in.

4.Mix in the gelatine (prepare the gelatine mixture according to instructions).

5. Pour into the moulds and put them into the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours, preferably overnight.

6. To serve the panna cotta dip the mould in hot water for a few seconds and use a knife around the edges to carefully tease the panna cotta out, tip it upside down onto a plate and it should come out easily. 

Strawberry Coulis:

1.Cut the strawberries and blend them with a hand held blender or a food processor.

2. Place the strawberries, sugar and water into a saucepan and heat.

3. Heat the mixture until boiling, stir continuously for around 5 minutes until it thickens.

4. Remove from the heat and use a fine sieve to create a smooth strawberry puree without any seeds.

4. Let it cool.

5. Pour the strawberry coulis mixture over the panna cotta.

6. You can decorate it further with cut fresh strawberries.

7. Serve

Notes:

1. I didn't have the proper panna cotta metal moulds so I used containers that had the right shape- I even reused empty plastic trifle/yogurt cups as they have that ideal shape.

2. You could make all sorts of sauces to go with this panna cotta, for example a raspberry coulis would have worked well too. 

 
A post from FullestofLife