Raspberry Panna Cotta is a lovely way to finish off a beautiful Valentines Day dinner! It’s a creamy and smooth dessert that’s not too sweet. The raspberries make it extra festive and pretty!
Panna Cotta is one of my personal favorite desserts which is perfect timing because Valentines Day is coming up on Thursday, and desserts and Valentines go together like they are meant for each other! 🙂
What is Panna Cotta?
Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert from the Piedmont Region of Italy. Piedmont is in the Northwest region of Italy and borders both France and Switzerland. Piedmont actually translates into “the foot of the mountains” which is where it is located. At the foot of the Alps! How fitting.
Panna Cotta means “cooked cream” in Italian. It is sweetened with sugar and thickened with gelatin. It’s on of the most fool-proof dishes that you will ever make. It is creamy, smooth and a lighter way to finish off a big meal.
Usually panna cotta is molded in a ramekin and inverted on a plate before serving. I like put mine in clear glassware so that I can see the pretty dessert, especially if you top it with a beautiful raspberry sauce as I did in this recipe.
What is Gelatin?
Gelatin is a colorless, odorless and flavorless food ingredient derived from collagen that is collected from animals. Don’t read up on it. Just know that gelatin is not a vegetarian product but it is however gluten-free! Which is great considering how many people these days are adapting this into their lifestyle.
Gelatin comes two ways. In America you can generally buy little packages in unflavored gelatin in the baking aisle of the grocery but in other places around the world or in specialty groceries they sell gelatin sheets. This recipes uses a package of unflavored gelatin.
I think a lot of people are intimidated by making plain gelatin, but in fact, plain gelatin is easier to make than a package of flavored gelatin. In this recipe, you only soften the gelatin in the raspberry puree and than heat until warm in the cream mixture. That’s it. Along with any gelatin, it needs to cool in the refrigerator until it’s “set” before it is served.
What makes panna cotta so special?
Panna cotta is an amazing dessert because you can basically flavor it to whatever you are in the mood for at the time. I made this Raspberry Panna Cotta because it’s red and pretty for Valentines Day but I also made this luscious Pumpkin Panna Cotta for a lighter dessert on Thanksgiving! Panna Cotta is also great with added vanilla bean/extract, any type of citrus extract, coffee, chocolate, hazelnut. Pretty much anything that you can think of can be added to a panna cotta. Fruit purees are a great way to finish off any panna cotta as well!
I hope that you give this panna cotta recipe a try for Valentines Day! You can make it up before you go to bed on Wedsnesday night and have a beautiful dessert ready for Thursday evening! Easy, peasy and tasty! Your sweetie will love you even more for making this dessert and that’s always a good thing!
Enjoy! 🙂
Cooking the raspberries with sugar and a bit of water will help it puree better so that you can strain out all the seeds!
Look Ma! All the seeds are strained out and all that is left is a raspberry puree!
All the pretty layers of the Raspberry Panna Cotta! The raspberry layer won’t freeze as its the sauce for the panna cotta!
I love Raspberry Panna Cotta! Try freezing the leftovers in a freezer safe container if you are only eating 2 servings!
Raspberry Panna Cotta
Ingredients
To Make the Raspberry Puree
- 3 pints raspberries
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
To Make the Panna Cotta
- 1 cup raspberry puree
- 1 package unflavored gelatin
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
To Make the Raspberry Puree
- In a small sauce pan add the raspberries, sugar and water and bring to a gentle simmer until the sugar is dissolved. With either an immersion blender, or a regular blender, blend the raspberry mixture until smooth.
- Place the raspberries puree in a fine mesh strainer and with a rubber spatula press through and collect as much liquid as possible. It's easiest to do this in small batches, dumping out the collected seeds in between additions. After all the puree is strained set aside. Reserve 1 cup for the panna cotta.
To Make the Panna Cotta
- Place one cup of the raspberry puree into a sauce pan with the package of gelatin. Stir well and let sit for 5 minutes to let the gelatin soften.
- After 5 minutes add the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla to the raspberry mixture. Cook over medium low heat until the mixture becomes steamy and bubbles begin to form around the edges. Do not boil and stir continuously to prevent the milk from scalding on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat as soon as the steam begins to rise.
- Remove from heat to let cool slightly. Pour into serving vessels (I used stemless wine glasses, but martini glasses, champagne glasses and regular wine glasses work great too). Place in the refrigerator for three hours to set, uncovered. Once the panna cotta has completely set and cooled pour the raspberry puree on top. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and serve when ready.
Beautiful!