Panna cotta

I know it's already autumn (well, in the Northern hemisphere it is. The rest of you are lucky, spring is coming, yay!) and you would rather eat apple and pumpkin pies, but why don't we change that for a couple of days? All I'm saying is let's have something else sweet today and tomorrow we'll go back to stuffing ourselves with pumpkin, apples and tons of cinnamon. If you already miss the hot summer days, I'm thinking Panna Cotta.





Panna Cotta, as you already know, is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk, sugar, gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It is a very quick and easy dessert, you can't go wrong even if all your cooking skills are limited to boiling eggs and brewing tea. It is especially quick and if it takes too long, you're doing it wrong. Above all, it is absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:
500 ml whipping cream
50 ml cold milk
60 g caster sugar
7 grams gelatin powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Flavorless oil for greasing the cups


Directions:
Lightly oil six cups (or ramekins) with oil.
Heat the whipping cream and sugar in a saucepan, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from heat and add the vanilla extract.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold milk in a small bowl and let stand 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture over the gelatin and stir well until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Divide the mixture into the prepared cups or ramekins, chill until set, at least three hours.
Serve straight from the cup or unmold the panna cotta by running a sharp knife around the edges.
Serve with fresh berries or berry reduction (recipe coming soon).











Notes:
If you decide not to grease the ramekins, you will still be able to unmold the panna cotta by placing the cups briefly into a bowl of hot water before inverting them onto their serving plates.