Panna Cotta translates from Italian to 'cooked cream'. It is a custard without eggs and essentially the essence of cream. The recipe suggested that if you can only get ultra-pasteurized heavy cream, consider whisking in a 1/4 cup of mascarpone cheese (I did this). Oh...and it is a great make-ahead dessert.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 3/4 cups of heavy cream (with mascarpone cheese if desired)
- 1 1/2 tsp. plain gelatin
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup finely grated lemon zest
- pinch of salt
- 3 TBL fresh lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Oil bowls or molds
- Pour a 1/4 cup of cream into a heat proof bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cream and let stand for 10 minutes or until the gelatin has softened.
- Place the bowl in a larger bowl of hot wet and stir until the gelatin has dissolved.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups of cream (with mascarpone if you added it), the sugar, the zest and the salt to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cook, at a bare simmer, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat, add gelatin mixture and lemon juice and stir until smooth. Pour through a strainer to remove the zest, into waiting bowl(s).
I grated my own zest and tried to skip the strainer step...wrong. I went
back and strained. - Let this cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, loosely covered, for at least 3 hours or up to a day until set and thoroughly chilled.
- Serve with or without a topping.