Panna cotta is a summer favourite for a reason: the light, cool dessert requires minimum time in the kitchen and can be whipped up in a variety of flavours.

Although Italians claim panna cotta as their own and it is believed to hail from Piedmont in northern Italy, a region famed for its cuisine, some food historians speculate that the dessert may have non-Italian origins.

While no written recipe for panna cotta appears in any cookbooks until the 1960s, there is documented evidence of a similar French dessert from the late 18th century/ early 19th century. The original version of Bavarian cream, fromage bavarois, has striking similarities to the milky dessert — except the cream is whipped into Chantilly before the gelatin is added. Created by the famed French royal pastry chef Marie-Antoine Carême, later versions of the dish included eggs.

Panna cotta is the classic summer dessert that never disappoints…

Panna Cotta

Even though panna cotta literally means ‘cooked cream’ in Italian, unlike other milk-based desserts such as kheer [rice pudding], caramel pudding or custard, panna cotta doesn’t require the cream to be cooked for a long time nor needs eggs to set: gelatin does all the hard work. Want to make this dessert vegetarian? Simply replace gelatin with agar.

While the recipe below is for chocolate panna cotta, to make the classic vanilla version, simply leave out the cocoa powder and top with fruit coulis instead. Panna cotta can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to three days — make sure it is covered with either cling film or a lid.

Chocolate Panna Cotta

Ingredients (Makes six small individual panna cottas)

1 cup whole milk
2¼ teaspoons unflavoured powdered gelatin
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or ½ a vanilla bean pod
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups of cream/ malai
A pinch of salt

Topping

2 tablespoons, or as needed, whipped cream/ malai
A chocolate bar for shavings
Any preferred cookie or biscuit (crushed into crumbs)

Method

1. Chill the moulds for the panna cotta in the fridge — short glasses or individual-sized ramekins are the most suitable.

2. If you’re using vanilla essence, skip to the next step. For those opting for vanilla beans, soak the bean pod in milk for an hour. Sieve the milk before setting with gelatin.

3. Pour milk in a saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly on the surface and set aside for five minutes — the milk should begin to look wrinkly. Cook the milk on low heat for a few minutes until the gelatin dissolves. Set aside for five minutes to soften the gelatin.

4. Heat again on medium. Add the sugar and salt. Stir. Then add the vanilla essence and cocoa powder, and stir again. Lower the heat and add the cream. Fold in the malai with the rest of the ingredients and cook for a few minutes more. Note: Make sure the mixture is not too hot when adding in the cream as it might split.

5. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Pour mixture into moulds/glass/ramekins. Put in fridge to cool. Stir every 20 minutes for the first hour. Cover with small lids or cling film. It should set in four hours, but can take longer.

6. Take out from fridge right before serving. Shave chocolate peels from the bar. Crush two to three biscuits in a plate with a pestle or the flat part of a large spoon. Pipe cream on to each individual panna cotta and then top it with some chocolate shavings and biscuit crumbles.

Classic Panna Cotta

Same ingredients and method as above but with no cocoa powder.

Fruity Panna Cotta

Same ingredients as classic panna cotta.
Fruit Coulis
2 cups chopped fruit such as strawberries or mangoes
¼ cup or as needed, water
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

1. Make the fruit coulis. Blitz the chopped fruit, water and sugar in a blender. Heat the mixture in a saucepan, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon juice and stir again. Continue cooking on low heat until the mixture is reduced to a thick syrup-like consistency.

2. Strain through a sieve and set aside to cool.

3. Make the panna cotta following the instructions provided above (see ‘Chocolate Panna Cotta: Method’). Add two to three tablespoons of the fruit coulis to the mixture, before adding in the malai. Stir well. Set aside to cool and then pour in the moulds.

4. Once the panna cotta is set, top with chopped pieces of fruit and drizzle with the coulis. Serve chilled.

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 31st, 2025