This may be one of the easiest, simplest, and most elegant desserts you ever make. Looking for a show-stopping, dressed-to-impress post-dinner treat you can wow your quarantine date with? Wanting to spice dinners up after nearly (exactly) a year in semi-lockdowns? This is for YOU. It’s the ever-classic, ever-indulgent Panna cotta, an Italian gift to the world (in addition to so many others), that needs only a handful of ingredients, as many minutes as you can count on two hands, and some lead time. Yes, the only down side is that it needs to set in the fridge for at least 8 hours…but that just means that you won’t have to even worry about prepping dessert on date night! It’ll just be there, chillin in the fridge, ready for the big reveal after that home-cooked (or ordered in) dinner. So it’s actually the perfect dessert. You can make it a couple of days in advance, in fact, so you’re really setting yourself up for success on the day-of.
Tips for a good panna cotta:
- There are very few ingredients, so try to go for high quality of as many of them as you can (the vanilla bean, for instance, or good cream, or a fancy topping like the one we happened to find) – when the ingredient list is short, it’s hard to hide behind mediocre ingredients (this is especially true for chocolate desserts – quality is well-worth the splurge)
- Stick to the measurements for the panna cotta, but get creative on the toppings! The dessert has a balance of gelatin to liquid to ensure that the resulting stunners have that classic silky panna cotta texture, without being too hard/gelled like actual jello, or runny. Toppings though – have fun! We found this crazy interesting and new-to-us pine bud syrup that has the same tang as molasses but is more refreshing (and you get a hint of a forest when you breathe in the smell), but a good-quality balsamic glaze (reduction – not straight balsamic vinegar), or a good fruit syrup, or just fruit are great toppings. I once had a fantastic buttermilk panna cotta with just pomegranate seeds and chopped pistachios on top.
- Don’t let your cream + sugar burn or boil – keep it calm and watch the temp (if you don’t have a thermometer, it’ll be about 3-4 minutes over low (again, don’t let it boil).
- Don’t sub whole milk in place of the buttermilk (for this one) – you totally can, of course, and the recipe will still work, but it won’t have the elevated depth (?) of flavor that the buttermilk lends with the slight tang, and bit of acidity.
- Don’t worry about turning out your panna cottas! If you’re going for easy and simple, pour the panna cotta mixture into a set of nice glasses you have – even wine glasses! It’ll level it up with none of the turning-out fuss (panna cotta is often served turned out of the ramekin/glass on a small plate).
And there you go – a quick shout out to the tiny foodstuffs shop we happened upon here in Ashland that had this fantastically-unique pine bud syrup (oh the things you find when wandering downtown!). Amistad is a small, husband and wife-run shop that features a plethora of imported Italian and Mexican (he’s Italian and they lived in Mexico for a few years) foods, spreads, dry goods, etc – and they also feature a third country every once in a while! The next one up is Greater Palestine! We will be back to increase our food awareness – the owners are never short on stories about their products which is just as valuable as the goods! Also, we love supporting our local small businesses both here in Ashland and in the Bay Area – they’ve had a rough 12 months and are still struggling.
If you’re looking for other easy desserts, check out our epic brownies (so dense and fudgy), or these black cocoa cupcakes, or this gloriously-satisfying Vietnamese honeycomb pandan cake with pandan whipped cream, or these bourbon balls, or this berries and cream Swiss roll!
Gluten Free Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Italian Pine bud Syrup
Equipment
- Six cups/bowls/ramekins
- Medium/small saucepan
- Candy thermometer
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 2 tsp powdered, flavorless gelatin
- 3 Tbsp cold water
- 1 1/4 Cup heavy cream
- 1/2 Cup white sugar
- 1 whole vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Cups buttermilk
- 3 Tbsp Italian pine bud syrup for topping if you can't find it, a good balsamic reduction/glaze tastes great too! or just fresh fruit
Instructions
- First, set all of your cups/ramekins out on the counter so you're ready to pour in the panna cotta mixture (and make sure you have enough room in your fridge for all of them!).
- Then, make the panna cotta! Put the 3 Tbsp of cold water into a shallow, wide bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the water so that all of the powder gets some liquid/can hydrate. Let sit on the counter away from the stove for 5-10 minutes to bloom/hydrate.
- Separately, start warming your cream and sugar in a small-medium saucepan over med-low heat – stirring constantly so that the mixture does not boil or burn. Using a candy thermometer attached to the pan, heat the mixture until it reaches 170° F then turn off the heat, remove the thermometer, and stir in the bloomed gelatin (make sure you scrape all of it into the cream!), salt, and vanilla bean seeds (cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and use a knife to scrape out the seeds) or extract until fully combined. Finally, add in the buttermilk and stir until smooth. If you're worried about lumps, strain liquid through a sieve. Then pour the mixture evenly into your six receptacles.
- Place six cups/bowls carefully in the fridge and let chill for at least 8 hours or just overnight (we made ours right before bed).
- Once the panna cotta has set, it should be still a little jiggly but should stay in the cups if turned over. You can find instructions for turning your panna cotta out onto plates to serve, though we like to serve it still in the glasses, especially if you're using nice dessert cups/glasses! Plus, it's way faster if you need a fancy dessert served in a pinch!
- Finally, top each of your panna cotta with about 1-2 tsp of pine bud syrup and serve! If you can't find pine bud syrup, a good, thick, balsamic reduction/glaze is lovely too, or just fresh fruit/fruit syrups!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your panna cotta!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
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