Panna Cotta

Okay everyone, though this lovely dessert may look wonderful, this is in fact, a failure blog post! Ok not a total failure. It looked great, it was edible, and it tasted pretty good, but the consistency was wayyyy off. Panna cotta is a simple Italian dessert, literally meaning 'cooked cream.' It uses a heavy cream base, sugar, some kind of a flavoring (usually vanilla, I used honey) and gelatin. The consistency is supposed to be something close to 'firmer than pudding, not as firm as....ice cream' but mine was perfect around the edges/bottom....goopy in the middle. One of the things I did wrong with this one is not let the gelatin sit and dissolve long enough. Usually, you want to let the gelatin dissolve in the milk for about 5 minutes, but I timed it by guess/judgement, where I really should have actually timed it. The other big problem was that I misread the recipe as calling for 1/2 tsp of gelatin....when it actually said 1/2 tbsp. I noticed quick enough, and added the difference a bit later, which is probably where the downfall of my dessert occurred.

One other mistake I made was that while almost every panna cotta recipe says, 'bring the mixture to a simmer but do NOT let the cream/milk boil,' I followed that step too closely and did not ever let my cream get very hot at all, worrying it might boil and scald; therefore my gelatin was probably not activated properly. In conclusion, I definitely recommend trying panna cotta, but please, please do as I say and not as I do; follow directions!

Panna Cotta

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tbsp unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup honey (give or take)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• your choice of berries for topping (about a cup or so)

1.  In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin evenly over milk. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow gelatin to dissolve

2. Stir milk and gelatin over medium heat until gelatin dissolves, stirring frequently, removing from heat just before milk starts to boil.

3. Add remaining ingredients, except for berries, and heat until sugar dissolves and everything is mixed thoroughly.

4. Pour even amounts of mixture into parfait glasses or wine glasses, cover and refrigerate at least 4-6 hours. You can make this up to 2 or 3 days ahead of time.

5. Remove and uncover. Top with berries, fruit sauce, or whatever you desire. I topped mine with fresh strawberries, blueberries and a chocolate drizzle.

Photos by the Chocolate Cookie