Who wouldn’t love a silky velvety panna cotta every once in a while? Such a delight to enjoy – even more so when it’s a creme fraiche panna cotta that you’ve made yourself!
I don’t care much for sweets but I do thoroughly enjoy a good panna cotta, creme brulee and cheesecake every so often. Notice a pattern here? Maybe it’s just the silky velvety consistency that I’m drawn too.
It really doesn’t get smoother than panna cotta. Traditionally made with cream, milk, sugar and gelatin this time I went for panna cotta with a twist – the twist being creme fraiche (which I recently discovered when making a Valentine’s Day creme fraiche cheesecake).
Compared to the standard panna cotta, the creme fraiche panna cotta is denser and richer. Better yet, the creme fraiche panna cotta pairs perfectly with an airy strawberry mousse and strawberry puree.
I’ve made panna cotta dozens of time since Daring Bakers first introduced me to it and I’ve noticed that going lighter on the gelatin and omitting honey produces the wibbly wobbly delicate panna cotta, whereas honey in place of almost all the sugar yields a slighter richer and less fragile dish, and the addition of the creme fraiche creates an even more solid dessert with a slightly tangy taste.
Overall, the creme fraiche panna cotta is a delicious and sophisticated looking dessert.
If you’re looking for other dessert recipes be sure to try my vegan caramel cheesecake and vegan caramel turtles.
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
- 1 teaspoon gelatin
- 1/3 cup creme fraiche
- For the strawberry mousse::
- 1 cup strawberry puree about 8 ounces strawberries
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon gelatin
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- For the strawberry puree::
- 1/3 cup strawberry puree about 3 ounces strawberries
- 4 teaspoons sugar
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Panna Cotta: Add 1 tablespoon cold water to a bowl and evenly sprinkle 1 teaspoon gelatin over the water to allow it to bloom. In a pot combine heavy cream, sugar and vanilla, over medium heat bring to almost boiling, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Add cream mixture to the gelatin and whisk to combine. Strain the mixture to remove the vanilla bean solids and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the creme fraiche and whisk until smooth. Pour panna cotta evenly into 4 glasses or ramekins. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
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Strawberry Mousse: In a separate bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1 tablespoon cold water. In a pot heat 1 cup strawberry puree with 1 tablespoon sugar, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add the gelatin, whisking until dissolved - let cool to room temperature. In a separate bowl beat heavy cream until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream into the strawberry puree using a plastic/rubber spatula. Pour mousse evenly over the 4 panna cotta glasses, using a spoon to even it out. Refrigerate.
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Strawberry Puree: Add strawberry puree and sugar to a pot and over low heat stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature and evenly pour over the 4 panna cotta mousse glasses. Refrigerate. Serve tops with fresh strawberry slices.
safifer says
Reblogged this on A Single Serving and commented:
I love panna cotta–I’m going to be waiting for some really good strawberries to try this one. My mouth is watering in anticipation just reading this post!
cookinginsens says
Fabulous! Panna cotta is so good!
Medeja says
I love all sweets including this gorgeous panna cotta with mousse.. looks amazingly delicious.
atasteforchange says
Beautiful photo, delicious looking dessert.
AvocadoPesto says
Thanks! It really is one of my favorite desserts!
Lucy Hill says
Wow! It looks so glamorous! Haha It’s so perfect! 🙂
Vicky says
Thanks! It’s truly one of my favorite desserts!
Lynda Bay says
Wow! The timing is perfect! I’m going to try this for friday… 🙂
Vicky says
Hope you enjoy it! I personally love panna cotta and think it’s the perfect summer dessert
Lynda Bay says
Tried it last Saturday and it’s such a perfect summer treat. I made it together with my friends and we were all thrilled as we tasted it. It’s so perfect and so fresh. Thanks so much for that wonderful recipe…we really enjoyed it. 🙂
Vicky says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I love hearing from people who have tested out my recipes – it’s always great to hear that it came out well! There are so many different ways to make panna cotta so if you liked this one I would encourage you to test out more panna cotta recipes!
Chichi says
I love panna cotta and your look delicious and well as beautiful
Vicky says
Thanks! I too love panna cotta and this was one of my favorites : ))
Lauren says
It says 1tbsp of gelatin (I’m in England) does this mean 1 sheet of gelatin in cold water or some kind of powers weed gelatin ?
Vicky says
I used powdered gelatin so it means 1 tablespoon of powdered gelatin. I have never used gelatin sheets so am not familiar with that but according to this post: http://www.nigella.com/kitchen-queries/view/Gelatine-Leaves-to-Powder-Conversion/2376 this is the conversion For Knox gelatine (which is the one I used) a 1/4-ounce (7g) envelope contains 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 teaspoons powder and sets 2 cups liquid. So one envelope will be the equivalent of 6 sheets of UK gelatine. So I used a little bit more than 1 envelope but let’s say 1, so you should just 6-7 sheets. Hope that helps!
Lauren says
I’m a little confused on which is for the mousse and which is for the pureé please reply asap I’m making it now.
Vicky says
this part is for the mousse:
1 cup strawberry puree (about 8 ounces strawberries)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon gelatin
½ cup heavy cream
this part is for the puree:
⅓ cup strawberry puree (about 3 ounces strawberries)
4 teaspoons sugar
Hope that helps!!
Strawberry puree says
I love your presentation!
Vicky says
Thanks!