I’m not sure how I came around to liking Panna Cotta’s, it’s probably Masterchef Australia but making a great Panna Cotta that is silky smooth, not too sweet but just enough richness is something I’ve been seeking in a recipe. I’ve made Vanilla Panna Cotta before but I’ve always been fascinated by mango jelly with Vanilla Panna Cotta. I found this recipe on Kothiyavunu.com and it looked great and panna cotta’s don’t take toooo much time, and it’s usually easy enough to make too so I had to try it out.
Mango and Vanilla Panna Cotta (Kothiyavunu.com)
Preparation Time : 10 minutes + Setting Time : 3-4 hrs
Cooking Time : 15 minutes
Serves : 4
Ingredients
Panna Cotta
Heavy Cream : 1 cup /240 ml (Or thickened cream)
Sugar : 1 tbsp /15 grms (or to your taste)
Milk/Half & Half : 1 cup /240 ml
Unflavored Gelatin : 1 packet /11/2 tsp
Honey : 1/3 cup /80 ml
Pure Vanilla Extract : 1 tsp
Mango Jelly
Mango Puree : 1 cup / 240 ml
Sugar : 1/4 cup /60 grms (or to your taste) – I used 1/8 cup
Cool Water : 3 tbsp/45 ml
Unflavored Gelatin : 1 packet /11/2 tsp
Method
Panna Cotta
1. Pour 1/2 cup of the milk into a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin has softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan combine remaining cup of milk, cream, honey, sugar,and bring to a simmer over medium. Heat until all the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the the vanilla extract. Watch the nix carefully as it is prone to splitting.
3. Now add and mix the gelatin until it is completely dissolved and allow the mixture come down to room temperature.
4. Pour into the serving bowls/glass as desired, cover with plastic wraps and refrigerate at least 2-4 hours or until set.
Mango Jelly
1. Sprinkle gelatin over cool water.
2. Pour mango puree and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until sugar has dissolved.
3. Now mix the gelatin into the mango mixture and stir until gelatin has dissolved.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool; pour it over the frozen panna cotta.
5. Allow to set it in a refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours until set.
Impressions
I think I made the worst mistake when cooking the panna cotta mix. I split the cream. Once it set, I realised that my thickened cream split into three layers! I tried scooping some of the fat from the top out (slightly yellow tinged) to make as “normal” as I could. The recipe wasn’t at fault though, I just left it on the stove too long and let it bubble/boil.
The mango jelly was easy to make, using the same kind of method as with the panna cotta mix and luckily I couldn’t have split that too!
The overall result was still quite decent. The panna cotta came out slightly grainy due to my neglect but flavour wise I couldn’t be happier. However, I found the use of thickened cream/heavy cream to be too dense for my liking. I’m not sure if using the standard cream would be harder to set but it didn’t seem as light as I would have liked. Other then that I enjoyed eating it and that’s as best of compliment I can give.
ohdenny 