Recipe: Easy panna cotta with strawberry sauce

Dear readers, I will be taking a break from blogging for a few days as I am feeling under the weather. The Unc made some lovely desserts the past few weeks, so I asked if he could do a couple of blogposts for me in the meantime. Enjoy reading!

********************************

Panna cotta is a lovely, rich Italian dessert which is both easy to make and great to eat. It is made by simmering cream (and milk if desired) with sugar and mixing with gelatin, and letting it cool to set. The preparation time for the panna cotta itself takes only about 10 minutes and paired with a delicious fruit coulis/sauce, it is a simply heavenly dessert. For those who wants to prepare this for a dinner party, panna cotta can be made up to 2 days ahead meaning that you have more time to concentrate on your other dishes.

Panna cotta with strawberry sauce

Panna cotta with strawberry sauce
Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz
Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 5-10 minutes
Cooling time: 4 hours
Serves 4


Ingredients
For the panna cotta:
500ml heavy cream (or whipping cream)
50g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 packet powdered gelatin (about 2 1/4 tsp)
3 tablespoons cold water

For the strawberry sauce:
1 cup fresh strawberries, and more for garnish
1 tbsp caster sugar


1. Prepare the gelatin by adding the gelatin powder to 3 tbsp of cold water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Heat the cream and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, take it off the heat and add the vanilla extract.

3. Lightly oil 4 cups or ramekins with a neutral tasting oil.

4. Pour the panna cotta mixture onto the gelatin and stir well until the gelatin is dissolved.

5. Portion the panna cotta into the cups and chill in the refridgerator for about 4 hours.

6. Prepare the sauce by blending a cup of strawberries with a tablespoon of sugar. Chop up a few strawberries roughly for garnish.

7. Unmold the Panna cotta by running a sharp knife along the sides of the cup and shaking it onto a plate. Serve with a drizzle of the strawberry sauce and some chopped strawberries.

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 14 November 2012.