This smooth and creamy Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cotta recipe is the perfect way to treat party guests while keeping you cool during the summer months.
I’m always looking for fun ways to make desserts that keep me cool without warming up my house. In triple digit weather, I need all the help I can get to keep from melting. Sometimes ice cream does it for me; other times, I don’t feel like going through all the hard work, and time, it takes to make a delicious frozen treat. In times like these, I’m so glad that Panna Cotta is a very suitable alternative, especially if it tastes like strawberry and rhubarb.
Panna Cotta is a fantastic dessert, but it’s also not very well known. This dessert is the Italian cousin of a Crème Brulée. However, this creamy dessert is set using gelatin and not egg yolks. As a bonus, it doesn’t require an oven to set. If you’ve made JELL-O® at home, this Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cotta recipe is nothing you can’t handle.
Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cotta Recipe
The one important thing to remember about gelatin is that it needs to “bloom” or loosen up, in cold liquid. Then as hot liquid is introduced, the protein in the gelatin activates and eventually hardens up as it sets in cold temperatures. See? Super similar to JELL-O® from a box! Panna Cotta is way cooler though.
Because it’s summer, you have to use awesome summer flavors in this Panna Cotta and it couldn’t be any easier than making your own fruit sauce. For this recipe, I made a simple strawberry and rhubarb compote with some sugar and lemon. Once the berries and rhubarb were cooked thoroughly, I blended the sauce in my blender and then strained it to get all the seeds out. Nothing kills a silky-smooth Panna Cotta more than some strawberry seeds. I let this compote chill so that I could later let my gelatin bloom as my cream and milk began to boil.
Some tools I recommend using for this is a fine mesh strainer, both for catching all the seeds from the strawberries and also to catch any bits of gelatin that didn’t fully dissolve in the hot cream. The other super helpful tool to use is a silicone muffin mold. It doesn’t require any greasing beforehand and it’s super easy to remove this dessert from the mold with just a butter knife. If you aren’t able to use a silicone mold, a ramekin would work just as well; I just like how easy it is to remove the Panna Cotta from the silicone molds.
Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cotta Recipe
These Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cottas are perfect by themselves, and because they’re so creamy, they aren’t in need of a sauce. Make this recipe over and over again this summer to keep you and any company you might have over cool and refreshed during the warmer months!
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Ingredients
- 1 lb strawberries, hulled and halved
- 2 stalks rhubarb, sliced into chunks
- 1/3 sugar
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sugar
- .25 ounces powder gelatin
Instructions
- Combine fruit compote ingredients in a medium sauce pot over medium heat, until juices release and sugar beings to dissolve, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until fruit is tender and sugar is completely dissolved, about 15 minutes.
- Place fruit compote into a blender and blend until smooth. Using a fine strainer, strain compote into a medium-sized mixing bowl until all liquid is free of seeds. Discard seeds and cool compote in the refrigerator.
- Meanwhile, combine Panna Cotta ingredients, except gelatin, in a large sauce pot and bring to a boil, about 15 minutes.
- Evenly spread gelatin over fruit compote and allow to “bloom,” about 5 minutes.
- Gently pour the hot cream-milk mixture over the fruit and gelatin, whisking to incorporate and break up any clumps of gelatin. Pass creamy mixture through a fine strainer to catch any clumps of gelatin.
- Using a soup ladle, ladle Panna Cotta base into molds, filling just below the rim. Wrap tops of mold with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic creates a “skin” on the Panna Cotta and allow to cool and set overnight in the refrigerator.
- When ready to serve, use a butter knife or off-set spatula to loosen the Panna Cotta by going around the outer part of the mold. Invert Panna Cotta on to a dessert plate and serve.
Notes
Home Chef Tip: By placing plastic wrap right on top of the cooling Panna Cotta, you’ll be able to prevent a skin developing across the tops of them. The plastic wrap is simple enough to remove after the Panna Cotta is set and won’t affect the outcome of the dessert.
We hope you love this Strawberry Rhubarb Panna Cotta recipe from SoFabFood Home Chef, Marlee from I Just Make Sandwiches, as much as we do. If you enjoyed this delightful recipe, be sure to stop by our Desserts section to find more like it. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook and visit us on Pinterest because we have a lot of fantastic dessert recipes there too. Enjoy!
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