Pina Colada Panna Cotta
Panna cotta (Italian for "cooked cream") is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings. The mixture is then set in a mold and is served cold the next day. The name panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s, yet it is often cited as a traditional dessert of the northern Italian region of Piedmont. However, it often finds mention when one talks about the traditional desserts of the northern Italian region of Piedmont. Some even suggest that the dessert was invented in the early 1900s by a Hungarian woman. The Region of Piedmont includes panna cotta in its 2001 list of traditional food products of the region. Its recipe includes cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, gelatin, rum, and marsala poured into a mold with caramel. Another author considers the traditional flavoring to be peach eau-de-vie, and the traditional presentation not to have sauce or other garnishes.This delicacy became widely known and fashionable in the US through the immense cultural influence of Italian Americans in the country’s popular and culinary culture. There was no stopping it from there and now it’s popular all across the globe from the east to the west in restaurants and hotel menus.The dish is great because you can tailor the taste to your preference. You can change the flavor of the Panna Cotta it self. You can garnish the dessert with whatever sauce or fruit you like. You can even choose to make the Panna Cotta light and soft by using more milk or rich and thick by using more cream. Most believe that making a Panna Cotta is a laborious task. However, this is far, far away from the truth. Making Panna Cotta is actually easier than making some ready made jelly. And no, you do not need any fancy equipment or ingredients to make it. Sugar is dissolved in warm cream. The cream may be flavored, either by infusing spices and the like in it, or by adding rum, coffee, vanilla, and so on. Gelatin is softened in a cold liquid, then added to the warm cream mixture. This is poured into molds and allowed to set. The molds may have caramel in the bottoms, giving a result similar to a crème caramel. On the face of it, a Panna Cotta is a very basic pudding. After all, it is just thickened cream with some gelatin. But the dessert really tastes very creamy and delicious, and yet is super soft of the palette. It just melts in the mouth, with no lumps or gritty after taste. Often, the dessert is served with some sweet sauce and fruit garnishes. You can also add some crunch in the form of a crumble if you prefer. These extra garnishes lend an extra depth to the taste of the dessert.If you love coconut or pina colada or you just want afresh dessert, I have a easy and delicious recipe for you: Pina Colada Panna Cotta. Using coconut canned milk makes this dessert really tasty, with a discrete taste of coconut and I just love that. I promise you, you wont regret if you try this recipe and more, is great on a summer time, like now.
Ingredients
- 400 g canned coconut milk
- 450 g pineapple
- 70 g sugar
- 15 g gelatine
- 30 ml water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Hydrate the gelatine with water and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the coconut milk can in a pot, add the sugar and warm up the milk until the sugar is melted. Add the gelatine and mix until the gelatine is melted. At the end add the vanilla extract to keep the vanilla taste intense. Add the milk in glasses or jars and let it cool for 3-4 hours.
- Using a vertical mixer smash the pineapple. Add the pineapple in a pan and cook until the pineapple starts to thicken. Let the pineapple cool for 15-20 minutes and add the pineapple over coconut milk and let in the fridge overnight.