Strawberry Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert that looks and definitely tastes very sophisticated and fancy but it is very easy to put together. It takes very few ingredients and less than 20 minutes to prep the panna cotta. Doesn’t that sound good?!! A fancy dessert at home and it takes so little to put together.

Besides, one can do many variations with the basic vanilla panna cotta. I’ve topped the panna cotta with a delicious strawberry gelee. If you do not have strawberries, you can sub them with any berries or seasonal fruits. You could even serve the panna cottas plain and dust them with a bit of cocoa powder. That tastes so good as well πŸ™‚

Strawberry Panna Cotta is the best make ahead dessert that you can put together for parties, potlucks, showers, etc. They look so pretty anyway and one could serve them in tiny shot glasses or some champagne flutes, etc.

Strawberry Panna Cotta

Strawberry Panna Cotta can be made either with gelatin or agar agar. Gelatin is a non veg, odorless and tasteless material that is made by boiling together the bones, skin and cartilage from animals. It is primarily made from the by product left with meat processing factories. So, yes, it is non vegetarian. However, we can use agar agar in place of gelatin for making desserts, etc. It is obtained from some sea weeds and has no animal extracts.

Strawberry Panna Cotta

Let us make some panna cotta.

For the Panna cotta –
Soak the chopped agar agar or the powder in the warm water for 10-12 minutes until completely dissolved.
In a heavy bottomed sauce pan stir together the cream, milk and sugar for the Panna cotta.
Let this mixture simmer gently on the stove until the mixture comes to very gentle boil, keep stirring the mixture with the wired whisk.
The sugar has to melt completely.
Once it has come to the boil, turn off the heat and add the dissolved agar agar mixture to the cream & mix well with the whisk.
Pour this mixture into the serving bowls /jars and place them in the refrigerator to set for at least 4-5 hours.

For the strawberry gelee layer –Β 
Hull and clean the strawberries. Chop them roughly and set them aside.
Dissolve the chopped or powdered agar agar in warm water for 10-12 minutess. It’s be dissolved.
In another saucepan add the strawberry chunks and sugar.
Stir them together on gentle heat until the sugar has melted completely.
Now add the dissolved agar agar mixture to the strawberry coulis and stir well.
Strain the mixture and discard the thick puree. Reserve the strawberry jelly mix.
Remove the set Panna cotta bowls /jars from the refrigerator & pour a slightly thick layer of the strawberry jelly mix.
Set the bowls / jars back in the refrigerator for another 1-2 hours for the gelee to set.
You can garnish them as you please and serve cool.

Strawberry Panna Cotta

A delicious, fancy yet easy to make Italian dessert is perfect for every occasion. 

Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 6 persons
Author Shreya Ashish Tiwari

Ingredients

For the Panna Cotta

  • 200 ml heavy cream
  • 1 cup full fat milk
  • 1/2 cup castor sugar
  • 4 tsp chopped agar agar strands 1.25 tsp agar agar powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup warm water to disolve the agar agar

For the Strawberry Gelee

  • 1 cup fresh strawberries
  • 3 tbsp castor sugar
  • 4 tsp chopped agar agar strands 1.25 tsp agar agar powder
  • 2/3 cup warm water to dissolve the agar agar

Instructions

For the Panna Cotta

  1. Soak the chopped agar agar or the powder in the warm water for 10-12 minutes until completely dissolved.

  2. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan stir together the cream, milk and sugar for the Panna cotta.

  3. Let this mixture simmer gently on the stove until the mixture comes to very gentle boil, keep stirring the mixture with the wired whisk.
  4. The sugar has to melt completely.
  5. Once it has come to the boil, turn off the heat and add the dissolved agar agar mixture to the cream & mix well with the whisk.

  6. Pour this mixture into the serving bowls /jars and place them in the refrigerator to set for at least 4-5 hours.

For the Strawberry Gelee

  1. Hull and clean the strawberries. Chop them roughly and set them aside.

  2. Dissolve the chopped or powdered agar agar in warm water for 10-12 minutes. It's be dissolved.

  3. In another saucepan add the strawberry chunks and sugar.

  4. Stir them together on gentle heat until the sugar has melted completely.

  5. Now add the dissolved agar agar mixture to the strawberry coulis and stir well.

  6. Strain the mixture and discards the solid berries.

  7. Remove the set Panna cotta bowls /jars from the refrigerator & pour a slightly thick layer of the strawberry gelee mix.

  8. Set the bowls / jars back in the refrigerator for another 1-2 hrs for the gelee to set.

  9. You can garnish them as you please and serve cool.

Recipe Notes

You can make a vegan version by using soy milk and soy cream in place of regular milk and heavy cream.
You can even sub coconut milk and coconut for the regular milk and heavy cream.Β 

Hope you make these soon.
Love,
Shreya.

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Strawberry Panna Cotta

10 comments on “Strawberry Panna Cotta”

  1. Hi Shreya,
    Great recipe. Looks divine. Can I use gelatin instead of agar agar? Could you please tell me the quantity of gelatin needed?

    Thanks,
    Ritu

    • Tnx for dropping by Ritu ! Sure.. Use 2 tsp of gelatin pwd wherever my recipe calls for agar agar.. Or a little more is ok too. Soak it in 4tbsp of hot boiling water and go with the rest of the directions given in my recipe.
      Hope this helpful..
      Shreya ☺️

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