Blueberry Panna Cotta
Blueberry Panna Cotta is a gorgeous custard, both in flavor and good looks. It’s easy to put together and ideal during the summer when blueberries are in season and there’s little interest in turning the oven on. Even though the blueberries pack a visual punch, the taste is mellow and complements the more traditional honey and vanilla flavors beautifully. Be sure to sample your blueberries first to ensure they are nice and sweet before starting the recipe.
I decorated my Blueberry Panna Cotta with little drops of lemon cream cheese buttercream to add some brightness. You could try that (recipe below), it is delicious, or keep things simple and garnish with just a few fresh berries or a light drizzle of chocolate syrup.
I first discovered how easy and delicious Panna Cotta was to make from this Giada de Laurentiis recipe in her Everyday Italian cookbook. I recommend the recipe and the book.
Blueberry Panna Cotta Recipe:
Yield:
2 or 3, depending on the size of your serving dishes
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients:
180 grams fresh blueberries, picked over to remove stems
½ cup whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
1½ tsp unflavored gelatin powder
3½ TBSP honey
½ tsp vanilla extract
A handful of fresh blueberries to garnish
Optional Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipe follows)
Instructions:
Purée blueberries in a processor until very smooth. 2-3 minutes. Strain through a sieve to remove skin.
Tip: I have better luck with a processor than a stand blender in getting this small volume of blueberries smooth. An immersion blender would probably work really well.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the milk, stir and let it soften for 3-5 minutes.
Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan until it simmers, stirring occasionally to avoid burning the cream in the bottom of the pan. Stir in the milk-gelatin mixture, honey, and vanilla and heat on low until the gelatin has dissolved.
Divide among serving dishes and chill, uncovered, for 5 hours until cold and firm. Garnish with fresh blueberries and serve.
Tip: If you’d like to plate the panna cotta, dip the bottom of the dish in warm water, run a knife around the edge and turn out onto a plate.
Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
Ingredients:
63 g confectioners sugar
½ tsp cornstarch (optional, this helps keep the frosting stiff)
30 g unsalted butter, softened
30 g cream cheese, softened (from brick, not the spreadable kind)
¼ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp lemon zest
Instructions:
Whisk together confectioners sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.
Beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy and well combined. Do this in a large bowl so the powdered sugar doesn’t fly everywhere when you add it in.
Tip: Because the quantity is so small, a handheld electric beater work best for this if you have one vs a stand mixer. I don’t recommend trying this with a hand whisk.
Add vanilla extract and lemon zest and continue to beat the mixture.
Add half the powdered sugar and beat until well combined and fluffy. Repeat with the second half. Transfer to a piping bag and decorate tart as desired.
I used a piping bag fitted with a couple of different sized small star tips.
A little trick for piping newbies: I’m not the best at piping, so rather than risk ruining the top of my desserts, I piped the stars onto wax paper then put them in the freezer while the panna cottas chilled. When I was ready to decorate, I simply peeled them off the paper and placed on top of the custards.
