Ube is just a happy color – thank goodness for its sultry, cozy, vibrant purple to light up so many desserts and menu items. These gluten free ube panna cotta are also dairy free (!!!) because coconut already pairs perfectly with this queen of purple yams and because Kendra tries to avoid dairy so we figured we should have some dedicated dairy free desserts (how’s that for alliteration) on here that she could make more often than others. This recipe was part of our string of wildly successful panna cotta adventures about a month or so ago – when I actually got the chance to visit her and the family up in Oregon! We embarked on these gelatinous and crazy-elegant desserts just before bedtime because they all (quite frustratingly) have to set for at least 8 hours in the fridge. So, to hurry us towards all tastings of these classic Italian treats (with a Filipino twist this time), we slept through the majority of the setting time and awoke to perfectly purple pots of panna cotta!
If you’ve never made panna cotta before, they’re remarkably easy and a stunner for any fancy schmancy dinner you have planned or small socially-distant gathering with folks you want to impress. It’s essentially cream, milk, gelatin, and flavoring – as simple as it gets! For this dairy free version, we used all the coconut products we could find: heavy coconut cream and coconut milk, plus toasted coconut on top because the nuttyness of ube pairs perfectly with the toasty nuttiness of, well, toasted coconut. And if you’re new to ube, it’s a fantastic ingredient that we highly recommend trying! We’ve had a bunch of spectacular Filipino desserts featuring the bright purple yam (ube cake, ube mochi muffins for a Japanese American twist, ube Swiss rolls, ube ice cream….) and are trying to ouse it more in our recipes because the flavor really cannot be matched for dreamy, rich flavor. We recommend using an ube extract for this recipe – this is the one we used!
If you’re into ube, we’ve got one other treat for you to try here, though we highly recommend doing a quick recipe search for other ube creations! Our ube angel food cake topped with clouds of ube whipped cream is truly heavenly, so if you’ve got a dozen eggs to spare and a bit of time, go for it! If dairy free is your thing, we’ve got the floofiest banana pancakes for you, or these pistachio raspberry rose vegan donuts, or these ultra blue blueberry muffins, or this turkish delight!!
Gluten Free Dairy Free Ube Panna Cotta
Equipment
- Six cups or ramekins
- Small saucepan
- Candy thermometer
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 2 tsp powdered gelatin
- 3 Tbsp cold water
- 1 1/4 Cup heavy coconut cream
- 1/2 Cup white sugar
- 2 tsp ube extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 Cups coconut milk
- 1/2 Cup toasted coconut flakes instructions below
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 coconut 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 ube extract until fully combined. Finally, add in the coconut milk 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 online 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 a tablespoon of toasted coconut flakes! To toast coconut flakes, heat them in a flat-bottomed frying pan (no oil), stirring constantly, until golden brown, then remove from heat immediately and pour flakes onto paper towels to cool. Once your panna cotta is topped with coconut, serve! Keep refrigerated until serving.
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your panna cotta!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
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