5 Ingredients or Fewer

Coconut Panna Cotta

March 16, 2015
4.3
3 Ratings
  • Serves 6-8, depending on the size of your cups
Author Notes

Panna cotta for coconut lovers. Topped with jam or mango puree, it's an easy make ahead dessert for guests. —Cristina Sciarra

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Ingredients
  • 2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
  • 3 chilled tablespoons water
  • 1 3/4 cups best quality cream
  • 6 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 cups coconut milk
Directions
  1. Pour the powdered gelatin into a small bowl. Add the chilled water, and then leave the bowl alone for 5 minutes.
  2. In a saucepan, gently warm the cream, the 6 tablespoons of sugar, and the salt over medium-low heat. Stir, until the sugar and salt dissolve. (Don’t let the cream reach a simmer.) When the cream is warmed, turn off the heat. Pour in the coconut milk, and whisk in the gelatin. (By this point, the powdered gelatin should have absorbed all the water. It will be the color of champagne, and a soft solid.) After whisking a minute, rub a drop of the cream base between two fingers: it should be smooth. Now ladle the base into individual cups. Cover the cups with plastic wrap, and move them to the fridge for at least 3-4 hours.

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Cristina is a writer, cook, and day job real estate developer. She studied literature, holds an MFA in Fiction Writing, and completed the Basic Cuisine course at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She lives in Jersey City with her husband--a Frenchman she met in Spain--and their sweet black cat, Minou. Follow her writings, recipes, publications and photography at theroamingkitchen.com.

6 Reviews

Amy P. February 16, 2017
I had some half-and-half to use up so I tried this recipe. Other than using half-and-half in lieu of heavy cream, I followed the recipe ingredients and steps exactly. It set up nicely (I didn't unmold mine and I made four large portions; I think if I'd done smaller portions it would've unmolded just fine) and it got great reviews from me, my husband, and our 5/3/1 yo kids. I served it with a chunky mango puree. I'll be keeping this recipe! Next time I think I'll reduce the sugar to 5 Tbsp and maybe add a couple drops of coconut extract.
Terri May 26, 2016
It was both, actually - creamy after some initial shards of ice. I used plain old Knox gelatin. Can you tell me what kind of coconut milk you used?
Cristina S. May 26, 2016
Hi Terri. Thanks for your comment. That's so odd! I think the panna cotta's ability to set would have more to do with the gelatin than the coconut milk. When frozen, was it icy, or more custardy? I'm so curious as to what happened!
Terri May 26, 2016
I made this a couple of days ago; the Panna cotta didn't set until I froze it. I wonder if the coconut milk affected it? I used full fat coconut milk. The frozen mix was delicious but it wasn't Panna cotta!
Cristina S. May 26, 2016
I use Native Forest. Thanks for bringing up the issue.
Terri May 26, 2016
That's exactly what I used. I wonder if I should have blended it first.