Lavender Panna Cotta
What is Panna Cotta?
Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert that literally means cooked cream. The cream is sweetened then thickened with gelatin. It is one of my favorite desserts and easiest to make, because there is no baking involved. I was inspired to make a lavender flavored one after visiting the 123 Farms in Cherry Valley. I used lavender leaves that I purchased at the farm and used what I had in my refrigerator and pantry: Heavy cream, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, gelatin and added a few drops of violet coloring (Chefmaster brand and gel based that I bought online).
Flavor
The trick to infusing the panna cotta with the lavender flavor is to steep the leaves in the warm milk/cream mixture then drain it. See directions in recipe below.
Waiting Game 🙁
The hardest part about making this dessert is that you have to wait until it sets in the refrigerator before enjoying it, which should take a couple hours. If you have a blast chiller, which I don’t, you won’t have to wait as long because it’ll set faster. The way you know it’s done is similar to jello. It should jiggle but not too much. You could also wait a couple hours and spoon some out, which is what I do, because well you know, patience isn’t my thing 🙂
Some Notes
- You don’t have to add as much lavender as I did. You can taste the milk/cream mixture after infusing the leaves and decide if you want to add more or not.
- Same with the color. Add a couple drops to the milk/cream mixture and see if you like the color. If you want more intensity, add more drops until you get what you want.
- Finally, you can add any other edible flower that suits your fancy. Doesn’t have to be lavender.
If you decide to make this recipe, I hope you enjoy it!
- 2 cups Heavy Cream
- 1¼ cup Whole Milk
- ½ cup White Sugar
- 1 envelope (7 gm) Gelatin Powder (Knox brand)
- 4 Tbs Cold Water (to bloom gelatin)
- 2 Tbs Lavender Leaves (Dry)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 drops Violet Color (Chefmaster brand)
- In a small bowl, add the water and sprinkle gelatin to cover full surface of water and set aside to bloom.
- In a medium saucepan, combine heavy cream, milk and sugar and place on the stove. Heat until the milk/cream mix reaches a point where it's almost boiling (Do Not Boil)
- Turn heat off and add the bloomed gelatin mixture to the mix.
- Stir until completely dissolved.
- Add lavender leaves to the mix and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Strain the mixture through a strainer or china cap.
- Add the vanilla extract, violet color and mix well.
- Pour mixture into 8 ramekins or molds of choice, in equal proportions.
- Place the ramekins/molds on a tray and place tray in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until firm.
- Enjoy!
