Macadamia Nut
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Vegan Macadamia-Coconut Panna Cotta
An ideal panna cotta is just firm enough to stand up on a spoon, yet melts the moment it hits your tongue. It should be rich and creamy, and just sweet enough to be satisfying—but not at all cloying. Panna cotta translates from Italian to “cooked cream.” In the traditional technique, gelatin is dissolved in warm cream to give it that desirable mouthfeel. This recipe is vegan, so you won’t find any cream or gelatin here; still, it hits all the marks with irresistible texture and flavor.
The method I use to achieve the perfect texture in a vegan panna cotta is a combination of agar-agar (a flavorless seaweed derivative that gels once dissolved in liquid) and arrowroot (a powdered root starch akin to cornstarch in texture) dissolved in a creamy, homemade macadamia-coconut milk. Magic happens when the ratios of these three components are spot-on. Once you have this base, you’ll find a multitude of ways to change up the flavors to suit any season—it’s the ideal creamy pillow-in-dessert-form for any fruit you have on hand. Try it with ripe in-season peaches, roasted plums, or crushed berries. You could also make a simple compote with frozen fruit in winter; or just drizzle it with aged balsamic vinegar like you might find in a good Italian restaurant.
The delicate yet rich flavor of this panna cotta relies on the homemade macadamia-coconut nut milk. Be sure to use good quality raw nuts, organic if possible (and make sure they’re fresh—the older nuts get, the more likely they are to go rancid) and dried coconut that’s fragrant and full fat (reduced fat won’t give you the same results). Don’t be tempted to use packaged nut milks here, as even the ones without additives are too watery for this recipe. Here, the nut-to-water ratio is quite high (much higher than packaged nondairy milks), along with the amount of vanilla—all coming together for a sublime texture and flavor in this creamy treat. - 2
