The original Italian dessert panna cotta comes from the mountainous province of Piedmont, which is famous for exotic wines and cheeses, as well as exquisite cooking. The name of this sweet dish is translated as "cooked cream". And indeed, this dish was originally prepared on a milk top with the addition of sugar and spices, which, depending on the preferences, were introduced into the recipe. Panna cotta according to the classic recipe is a very fat and nutritious dish. But, knowing the technology of cooking this dessert, it is possible to vary the components and reduce its caloric content. Italian cooking for beginners can seem very intricate, but a number of recipes have long been adapted by leading chefs of the world and are available to almost any hostess who can spend an insignificant amount of her time preparing delicious and useful sweets.
Delicate treat
The name, which can be translated as "boiled cream", does not quite match the nature of the dessert. It is rather a pudding, which has a creamy texture, and which includes a wide variety of ingredients. The recipe for a panna cotta in its simplest form implies two simple steps. The first involves heating the cream (but in no case to boil!) On a small fire with sugar. The second is the combination of the obtained mass with the prepared (water-soaked) gelatin or agar-agar. Then it is poured into molds, cooled and placed in the cold. The solution to the fatiness of the cream can be left to the discretion of the one who is preparing the dessert. From this will only depend on the density of the panna cotta. The recipe can even include yogurt or yogurt, and still the dish will be delicious. A mixture of cream and milk will give an intense creamy taste, but the calorie content will not be too high. The basic recipe for the panna cotta gives room for experiments.
Variations on the theme of creamy ease
Panna cotta looks like a dense milk jelly, and its ability to hold the shape allows you to try out various options for serving this dessert: for example, pour fruit or caramel sauce, decorate with chocolate chips, berries, biscuit figurines or marshmallow. Jelly itself can be made in many colors, in the simplest version - with cocoa, or with the help of food colors to give it any shade. A lot of beautiful options for those who do not want to strain imagination, offers popular cooking. In the pictures of sections devoted to desserts, you can find examples and stimulate your inspiration. For example, if you pour jelly into glasses and leave to harden at a small angle, this will give the dish refinement. The color of the panna cotta can be changed and natural dye - adding fruit or berry puree, honey or mint. Jelly on yogurt or yogurt has a peculiar pronounced flavor, which is undesirable to combine with something else. The recipe for a panna cotta requires strict compliance with the proportion in only one: the liquid and gelling agent should stay in a ratio of approximately 10 grams per half liter. If you like a more elastic consistency, then you can take more fatty cream. Dessert can be flavored with wine, add a chocolate cream, and an excellent option (for experienced masters of confectionery art) will be the use of panna cotta in jelly cakes and pastries.