This is one of the easiest dessert recipes that you can find. It’s a very delicate and tasty Italian spoon dessert. Today I will show you one of its versions. I will show you how to make a coffee-coconut panna cotta. Have you ever heard of panna cotta? It’s a perfect dessert on a sunny, rainy, warm, cold or snowy day.
As said, panna cotta comes from Italy, more exactly from the region Piemonte. Panna cotta means cooked cream. And it really is like that, you cook the cream with some additions and you have a great silky smooth dessert. Usually, you can make it with only 3 or 4 ingredients.
What gives the panna cotta this bouncy and wobbly look? It is the perfect combination of the ingredients. And one of them is the gelatine. When you use too much of it, the panna cotta will be like rubber, when not enough of it is used, then it will be just sloppy. I used the gelatine sheets because they don’t tend to leave smaller lumps like the gelatine powder.
Going back to the recipe, I thought coffee and coconut would make a nice combination. Therefore, I made coffee-coconut panna cotta. In addition to that, I made a hazelnut crumble as well. A little crunch never hurts. He he.
Even though I made the coffee-coconut flavour, you can make a perfectly basic panna cotta as well and add some delicious sauces. There is almost no limitation of the choices. The most classic, the one I saw the most times when ordering panna cotta, comes with the strawberry or raspberry sauce. However, you can make also a chocolate or caramel flavoured panna cotta. It is up to you. But first, try this coffee-coconut one. He he he.
Keep it in the fridge for at least 4 hours
There is one more thing to know. Panna cotta can be made quickly, however it requires a long time in the fridge. You should keep it in the fridge for at least 4 hours. But, since I made two flavours, I had to wait two times. I made the first flavour (and layer at the same time) in the evening and left it in the fridge overnight. Oh yeah, that reminds me, remove any strong-smelling vegetables like onions from the fridge or else the panna cotta will absorb the taste of it…..baaahhh.
So, I made the coffee flavour in the evening and the second one the next morning. You could see the two layers in the glass (one coffee colour and one white). And in the afternoon the coffee-coconut panna cotta was ready!
How many times you ate a panna cotta but you’ve never made one yourself? Well, now you can make it. It’s child’s play. Is it too long to wait? Well, yes, BUT totally worth waiting.
Ingredients for 3-4 portions of coffee-coconut panna cotta:
- 500 ml whipping cream (half for coffee, half for coconut part)
- 50 g sugar (divided)
- 5 gelatine sheets (3 for coffee, 2 for coconut)
- 50 ml espresso shots
- 60 ml coconut milk (I used the thick, creamy one from a can)
Ingredients for the hazelnut crumble:
- 40 g butter (cold, diced)
- 30 g sugar
- 40 g flour
- 70-80 g ground hazelnuts
- vanilla (2 drops or 1 tsp)
- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
Coffee layer
First, start with the coffee panna cotta. Place three gelatine sheets in a bowl with a flat bottom and cover them with some cold water. Soak them for at least 5 minutes.
Second, make some coffee. I made around 80 ml of espresso. Some for me and the rest for the panna cotta. Wink. In a small saucepan, combine the cream, sugar (25 g) and espresso. Just before it starts to form small bubbles, remove it from the heat. Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine sheets and add them to the cream mixture. Stir until the gelatine is completely dissolved.
Third, pour the mixture into glasses or moulds (if you use the moulds, I suggest to slightly wet them) and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Don’t worry because the glass or the mould looks only half full. On top of that comes later the second layer, the coconut panna cotta.
Coconut layer
Once the coffee panna cotta gets the right jiggly consistency, you can prepare the second layer. Same procedure as for the coffee part, with just one change. Use coconut milk instead of coffee. Ha ha ha. Soak two gelatine sheets. In a saucepan, heat up the cream, sugar and coconut cream. Before it starts to boil, remove from the stove and add the gelatine. Stir until melted and then pour on top of the coffee layer in glasses or moulds. Place it back in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
In the meantime make the hazelnut crumble. In a bowl combine butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla, salt and hazelnuts. Simply use your hands to mix it, by squeezing it between your fingers. After all the ingredients are well combined, wrap it in a cling film and put in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Once the 20 minutes are over, preheat the oven to 170º C. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take the crumble “dough” out of the fridge and crumble it, between your hands, on the baking sheet. Then, place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
Serve this delicate, creamy and jiggly coffee-coconut panna cotta in a glass or if you used a mould, gently flip it over and let it slide out on a plate. Don’t forget to sprinkle it with the crunchy hazelnut crumble. I love this Italian dessert. Every spoon of it it makes you feel like summertime is here.
Enjoy!
PS:
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
