There is something so sophisticated and kind of fancy about coffee desserts, and this coffee panna cotta recipe is no exception. The secret? It’s not at all hard to make. Stick with me and I’ll show you how to make a creamy and delicious coffee dessert with just a handful of ingredients.
This is my second entry for Summer Dessert Week this year, and this time around, I’m all about the this fancy yet easy dessert! I think you’ll like my lemon corn panna cotta and my chocolate panna cotta as well. And if you don’t want to make individual desserts, consider my cream cheese panna cotta tart!
The LBD of Desserts
Seriously, panna cotta is a great dessert recipe to have in your back pocket.
It only requires a few ingredients to make it, and once you get the procedure down, you can flavor it in tons of different ways.
Flavors
Aside from the lemon corn, cream cheese, and chocolate versions I mention in the introduction, here are some other flavor ideas for you:
- Matcha
- Caramel
- Raspberry
- Strawberry
- Blackberry (okay–all the berries)
- Almond
- Hazelnut
- Lavender
- Rose
- Orange water
- Lemon
- Orange
And the list goes on and on. Whatever you can steep in dairy and then strain out or whatever spices and/or extracts you can add to it is fair game, flavor-wise.
Serving
You can also serve it in different ways, switching up the kind of conainers you pour it into or deciding to turn them out onto plates like you would flan.
Think out of the box when it comes to containers:
- Small jam jars
- Shot glasses
- teacups or coffee cups
- espresso mugs
- Ramekins
- Wine glasses or champagne flutes
- Glass yogurt jars
- Metal spice tins
- Ceramic or glass salt cellars
Plating Panna Cotta
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If you plan on serving your guys in containers, you can garnish with whipped cream or various sauces (depending on what flavor you make).
For these little coffee panna cottas, I used my Microplane to grate dark chocolate on some of them, for others I made some coffee flavored whipped cream. Another nice touch would be to serve them with chocolate covered espresso beans or even hot fudge sauce (cooled down to room temperature so the gelatin doesn’t melt).
If you decide you’d like to unmold your panna cotta to serve like flan, your best bet is to use silicone muffin molds, pop them in the freezer, and then pop the frozen pucks out onto serving plates.
NOTE: Yes, you can freeze panna cotta. They freeze like a dream and thaw to their original creamy consistency with no problem at all.
Of course, before serving, allow them time to reach 45F or so–cold enough that they still read as chilled desserts but well past the point of being icy.
If you don’t have silicone molds or don’t want to buy some, you can also mold and then freeze them in Solo-type cups, either small 4 oz souffle cups or even regular ones only filled with about 1/2 cup of mix.
Once frozen, use scissors to help you cut/tear away the plastic cup.
A more eco-friendly option would be to use paper cups. Just be sure to spray the insides with some pan spray to make sure they’re easy to peel away from your frozen panna cotta.
Ingredients
As with most recipes for this Italian classic, this one has a short list of ingredients:
- heavy cream
- whole milk
- sugar
- powdered gelatin
- salt
- instant coffee
- vanilla
The Keys to a Creamy Panna Cotta
The key to getting a nice and creamy panna cotta is to divide the heavy cream, using some of it to cool off the hot milk mixture and the rest to very softly whip and then fold/whisk it into the rest right before pouring your mix into your containers.
You also want your base to be chilled enough that it is starting to thicken up as well. Ideally, it should be the same texture as your thickened cream. You can do this in one of two ways:
- Place it in the fridge and whisk it every 15-20 minutes until it is just barely starting to set, or
- Whisk it over an ice bath on the counter until it begins to thicken and set.
Now that I’ve given you the “secrets,” here are the steps.
- Stir the instant coffee into about 1/4 of your whole milk and then add your gelatin. Stir again and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Bring the remainder of the milk, the sugar, and a pinch of salt to a bare simmer–it should not boil.
- Off the heat, stir in the coffee/gelatin mixture. Whisk over the heat for just a few more seconds, making sure the mixture is smooth and not grainy.
- Strain into half the heavy cream.
- Chill over an ice bath or in the fridge until just starting to set and slightly thickened.
- Softly whip the remaining cream along with the vanilla paste (something with “vanilla specks” in it is nice, but you can also use extract.)
- Stir the thick cream into the gelatin mixture until thoroughly combined. The mixture should not separate into two layers. If it does, chill it and whisk it a bit more.
- Pour this final mixture through a small strainer (optional) and into serving dishes/containers.
- Chill, garnish as desired, and serve.
Summer Dessert Week Posts, Wednesday, 7/8/2020
Welcome to the 4th Annual #SummerDessertWeek event hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife.We’re celebrating all things summer with a week-long event that is absolutely filled with some of the best summer dessert recipes! Follow the hashtag #SummerDessertWeek on social media to find recipes and make sure to check out the bottom of this post for even more summer desserts!
Check out the amazing #SummerDessertWeek recipes from our bloggers today!Ice Cream & Chilled Desserts:
- Caramelized Pineapple No-Churn Ice Cream from Love and Confections
- Chocolate Covered Frozen Strawberries from Our Sutton Place
- Coffee Panna Cotta from Pastry Chef Online (You’re here!)
- Strawberry Margarita Popsicles from Cheese Curd In Paradise
- Pineapple-Orange Sherbet Popsicles from Palatable Pastime
- Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Pops from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- Southern Pineapple Sunshine Cake from Big Bear’s Wife
- Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
- Strawberry Pound Cake from Savory Experiments
- Blueberry Lemon Dump Cake from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Key Lime Sheet Cake from It’s Shanaka
- Fruity Watermelon Pizza from Blogghetti
- Chocolate Chess Pie from Back To My Southern Roots
- Bourbon Peach Empanadas from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Rhubarb Thumbprints from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Easy Caramel Banana Sauce from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
A Note About Measurements
NOTE: Most of my recipes are written by weight and not volume, even the liquids.
Even though I try to provide you with volume measurements as well, I encourage you to buy a kitchen scale for ease of measuring, accuracy, and consistency.
This is the scale I use, love, and recommend:
I really hope you love this coffee panna cotta, you guys!
If you make it, please share a photo with me, either in the PCO Facebook Group or on instagram by tagging @onlinepastrychef and using hashtag #pcorecipe.
Thanks, and enjoy!
Creamy Coffee Panna Cotta Recipe
This coffee panna cotta is rich and creamy and is the perfect ending to a summer meal. Why drink your coffee when you can eat it as dessert?
Ingredients
- 8 oz whole milk, divided use
- 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
- 3-4 teaspoons instant coffee (depending on how strong a coffee flavor you like)
- 1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you like things)
- healthy pinch of salt
- 8 oz heavy cream, divided use
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
Instructions
- Place 1/4 cup of the milk (2 oz), the gelatin, and the instant coffee in a small bowl. Stir and allow the gelatin to bloom for about 10 minutes.
- In a small saucepan, heat the remainder of the milk together with the sugar and salt until steaming but not boiling.
- Stir in the gelatin/coffee mixture and heat another 5-10 seconds, again not letting the mixture boil.
- Set aside to cool for 30 minutes.
- Strain the coffee/gelatin mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl.
- Stir in half of the heavy cream.
- Add the vanilla to the other half of the cream and whip it until the vanilla bean specks are suspended and don't sink and the whisk leaves tracks in the cream.
- Whisk/fold the softely whipped cream into the coffee/gelatin mixture.
- Pour into small containers and refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream, a chocolate covered espresso bean or some finely grated chocolate.
Notes
STORING: Store in the fridge for no more than 4 days. The gelatin will continue to get firmer as they sit in the refrigerator, so for best texture, serve within a day or two of making.
FREEZING: Freeze, well-wrapped, for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge until no longer icy.
SWEETEN TO TASTE: Use more or less sugar, depending on taste. If you are going to use 4 teaspoons of instant coffee, you will probably want to use 1/2 cup of sugar. If you use 3 teaspoons of instant coffee, you will most likely be fine with 1/3 cup of sugar.
SUBSTITUTING ESPRESS POWDER: If all you have is espresso powder, start with 2 teaspoons and see how you like it and then go from there. This dessert really is all about making it to taste.
TO UNMOLD: If you'd like to unmold these panna cottas, increase the amount of gelatin to 2 teaspoons for a firmer set.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 341Total Fat 23gSaturated Fat 15gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 73mgSodium 78mgCarbohydrates 30gFiber 0gSugar 30gProtein 4g
The stated nutritional information is provided as a courtesy. It is calculated through third party software and is intended as a guideline only.
Thanks so much for spending some time with me today. Enjoy your delicious dessert–and all the Summer Dessert Week desserts!
Take care, and have a lovely day.
Chef and Steward says
Really love this recipe Jenni! I particularly love that you have called for a healthy pinch of salt and I can use instant coffee.