Panna cotta
Piedmont's 'cooked cream': cream and a little milk set softly with gelatine, scented with vanilla, served with caramel.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Rest
- 6 hr
- Total
- 6 hr 30 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Panna cotta is cream warmed with sugar and vanilla, set with just enough gelatine to hold its shape when turned out, and no more. It should tremble on the plate and melt in the mouth, never bounce. Use mostly cream with a little whole milk, heat it only until hot, never boiling, and dissolve the soaked gelatine off the heat. Pour into moulds and chill for at least six hours. In Piedmont it is served with a thin caramel sauce; berries and coulis are popular abroad and in restaurants, but caramel is the classic. To turn it out, dip the mould in hot water for a few seconds and invert onto a plate. Done is a smooth, pale, wobbling dessert that tastes of good cream.
What you'll need
7 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Panna cotta
- Caramel
Ingredients
Panna cotta
- Cream, fresh double or whipping cream500 ml
- Milk, whole100 ml
- Sugar80 g
- Vanilla, split, seeds scraped1 pod
- Gelatine leaves, about 6 g, soaked in cold water3 leaf
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 10 minutes.
10 min
Step 2
Heat the cream, milk, sugar and vanilla seeds and pod until steaming, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Do not boil. Take off the heat and remove the pod.
6 min
Step 3
Squeeze the gelatine and stir it into the hot cream until dissolved. Cool 10 minutes, stirring now and then, then pour into six moulds and chill at least 6 hours.
15 min
Step 4
For the caramel, cook the sugar with 3 tbsp water until amber, then carefully add 3 tbsp hot water and swirl. Cool.
8 min
Watch: Caramel splutters when the water goes in. Stand back.
Step 5
Dip each mould in hot water for 5 seconds, turn out onto a plate and pour over a little caramel.
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 413 kcal
- Protein
- 2.4 g
- Carbs
- 33.4 g
- Fat
- 30.6 g
- Saturated fat
- 19.5 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
- Sugar
- 33.3 g
- Sodium
- 55 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Milk
- Gluten-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 10 November.
Substitutions
Gelatine leaves → Powdered gelatine
Use 6 g, sprinkled over 2 tbsp cold water and left to swell.
Tips
- Stir as it cools so the vanilla seeds stay spread through the cream, not sunk to the bottom.
- Less gelatine means a softer set; serve in glasses if you want it very soft.
History & culture
Panna cotta comes from the Langhe in Piedmont, the dairy and wine country around Alba, and is a fixture of trattoria dessert menus across the north. Piedmontese cooks sometimes flavour it with a splash of Marsala or rum in the caramel.
Set cream desserts are old in Europe, but panna cotta as a named dish is a twentieth-century Piedmontese recipe, said to have been made by a Hungarian-born woman in the Langhe in the early 1900s. It spread through Italy and then the world's restaurants from the 1990s.
Traditional — Cream, milk, sugar, vanilla and gelatine, served with caramel as in Piedmont.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Panna cotta take?
6 hr 30 min all in — 20 min prep, 10 min cook, 6 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 6 puddings. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Gluten-free.
9 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan, Mixing bowl.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list a salt amount. We will not invent one.
How much sugar?
80 g of Sugar.
How much sugar?
100 g (for the caramel) of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Gelatine leaves → Powdered gelatine. Use 6 g, sprinkled over 2 tbsp cold water and left to swell.
What should I watch for?
Caramel splutters when the water goes in. Stand back.
Any tips from this recipe?
Stir as it cools so the vanilla seeds stay spread through the cream, not sunk to the bottom. Less gelatine means a softer set; serve in glasses if you want it very soft.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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