Posted on Friday, 27th May 2011 by Grace Massa Langlois
With my niece’s (Natalie) bridal shower fast approaching my sisters and I have been busy in and out of the kitchen preparing for the special day. We want our dessert table to be filled not only with traditional Italian Cookies but also mini Italian Desserts, Italian Pastries and mini Italian Cakes. The sweets need to be made ahead and this Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta is perfect. I knew they would be extra special topped with this scrumptious Port Cherry Sauce.
I plan on serving the Panna Cotta in shot glasses. The Port Cherry Sauce will add another flavour dimension but it will also add a striking pop of colour.
I made them just before heading off to Atlanta for a Food Blogging Conference. I don’t know about you but I’m always run off my feet before heading out of town. I wanted to make something special for the kids and my Mom to enjoy for dessert while I was away. Panna Cotta is so simple to make and it takes so little time, the perfect dessert when time is precious.
Natalie popped in for a visit while I was away and again last night. She mentioned she enjoyed the panna cotta, especially the Port Cherry Sauce. I think she will be pleasantly surprised when she sees the panna cotta on the dessert table. That is, if she doesn’t see this post ahead of time. I’m counting on her being very busy with wedding plans leaving little time for reading.
The week leading up to the shower will be hectic. I plan on making Cannoli Siciliani, Cannoncini alla Crema Pasticcera, mini Torta Caprese, mini Hazelnut, Raspberry Jam and White Chocolate Tarts, mini Triple Chocolate Mousse Cakes and homemade Baci Chocolates. We’ve had the most terrible time planning the shower, if something could go wrong it has. Fingers crossed, I am hoping our luck will change and that in the end all will go well.
If you’ve never tried Panna Cotta I urge you to give it a try. Panna Cotta has a smooth, creamy consistency and it’s a versatile dessert. Add whatever flavourings you fancy, the possibilities are endless. And the dessert can be topped simply with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream, fresh berries, or with berry compote, caramel, chocolate or berry sauce.
I want to take a moment and thank you all for the well wishes on my upcoming cookbook release. This is a very exciting time in “My Sweet Journey” and I am enjoying every minute developing and testing recipes and of course tasting. It’s been especially wonderful revisiting family recipes and taking a walk down memory lane.
Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta with Port Cherry Sauce {Panna Cotta al Cioccolato al Latte con Salsa al Porto e Ciliegie}
- Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta
- Port Cherry Sauce
- Sweetened Whipped Cream, optional
Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta {Panna Cotta al Cioccolato al Latte}
Makes 8 6-ounce servings
- 237 ml (1 cup) whole milk, divided (keep 60 ml/¼ cup chilled)
- 474 ml (2 cups) heavy cream, 35%
- 57 g (¼ cup) caster (superfine granules) sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
- 7 grams (1 tablespoon or 1 package) unflavoured gelatine
- 454 g (16 ounces) good quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
- Place custard cups or ramekins on a baking sheet.
- In a small-sized saucepan, bring 177 ml (¾ cup) milk, cream, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds just to the boil (small bubbles just beginning to form around sides of pan) over medium heat, stirring constantly to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat; cover and allow vanilla to infuse, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle gelatine over remaining cold milk in a small bowl, set-aside to bloom for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, reheat vanilla mixture over medium heat; remove from heat and remove vanilla bean. (You can rinse and dry vanilla bean and save for another use, i.e. to flavour a coulis or to make, vanilla sugar.)
- Add the bloomed gelatine mixture and whisk until gelatine has dissolved.
- Add the chocolate; whisk until well combined and chocolate has melted.
- Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a pourable container.
- Divide mixture evenly between custard cups or ramekins.
- Cover and chill until set, at least 6 hours, preferably overnight and up to 2 days before serving.
Port Cherry Sauce {Salsa al Porto e Ciliegie}
**Please Note - Sauce can be prepared up to 2 days in advance. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
**If using fresh cherries, place all cherries in at once and continue on with recipe.
- 680 g (about 4½ cups frozen or 4¾ cups fresh) fresh or frozen cherries, stemmed and pitted, divided (if using frozen cherries)
- 113 g (½ cup) caster (superfine granules) sugar
- 175 ml (¾ cup) Port Wine
- 60 ml (¼ cup) orange juice, freshly squeezed
- In a heavy bottomed sauté pan cook 454 g (3 cups) frozen cherries or 680 g (4¾ cups) fresh cherries, sugar, Port, and juice over high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook bringing mixture to a boil over high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium; simmer until cherries are soft and wine has reduced, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Remove from heat; set aside to cool. If using frozen cherries, add remaining 226 g (1½ cups) cherries, stir to well combine and set-aside to cool.
Assembling Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta with Port Cherry Sauce
- To remove panna cotta from cups (ramekins), work with one panna cotta at-a-time, place each cup (or ramekin) in very hot water, let stand for about 1 minute. Remove cup, wipe the bottom of the cup with a kitchen towel, invert onto centre of dessert plate. (If you encounter difficulty removing the panna cotta repeat process again allowing the cup to sit in the water for an additional minute. If you are still experiencing difficulty inverting run a sharp knife around the edge of the panna cotta then invert onto dessert plate.)
- To serve, top with a quenelle of Sweetened Whipped Cream and Port Cherry Sauce.
- Buon Appetito!
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Tags: after school treat, afternoon tea, cherries, chocolate, chocolate dessert, compote, coulis, dessert, desserts, food, food photography, food photos, fruit, individual dessert, individual desserts, Italian dessert, Italian desserts, milk chocolate, panna cotta, pudding, quick desserts, sauces
Posted in Baking Mise en Place, Custards, Creams & Mousses, Fillings, Frostings & Dessert Sauces, Recipes
Comments (12)
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May 27th, 2011 at 11:25 am
I love panna cotta but I usually make fruit versions – I can imagine a chocolate panna cotta is lovely and the source sounds divine. Good luck with the rest of the preparations, sounds like you have a huge amount to get through!
May 27th, 2011 at 12:16 pm
That might be the best looking panna cotta I’ve ever seen!
May 28th, 2011 at 9:49 am
How lucky your niece is to have you working behind the scenes. The port-cherry sauce sounds good enough to eat by itself.
May 28th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
Dara there’a a whole group of us Aunts and my Mom preparing for Natalie’s big day. It’s a family tradition.
May 28th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Hi! I’m a new reader, also from London, and have enjoyed browsing through your dishes. Home town is the Sault, where all are Italian or wish we were. The Milk Chocolate Panna Cotta just went in the fridge. I haven’t found a good place to buy chocolate here, can you let me in on your secret. Where to buy the paneangeli would be also helpful.
May 29th, 2011 at 9:28 am
There are a couple of places, but you are so right so very difficult to find ingredients here, especially good chocolate. When I visit my brother in the US I usually stock up on chocolate. Here at home I usually visit Remarks on the corner of Oxford & Hyde Park and there is a great chocolatier in the market downtown. The Paneangeli is a little harder to find, some of the Metro locations in the south end of the city carry it, Angelo’s was my supplier but now I will probably head to International Bakery (small Italian Bakery) (my sister buys it here), it is located between the corners of Adelaide & Hamilton and Hamilton & William. It’s been around for years and years. Baking powder and vanilla extract can be substituted for the Paneangeli but getting the correct amount for substitution has always been difficult to find and I find the taste and texture is not the same. I was a little thrown because some mentioned it had cornstarch. My mother has always used Paneangeli, I don’t even think they have baking powder in Italy or at least not when my Mom was growing up there. I think it was a new ingredient for her when she came here. I miss Angelo’s (they also carried a good supply of European Chocolate) because it carried so many of the hard to find Italian ingredients, but good news I think they may re-open at the Thompson Road location, keeping my fingers crossed. By the way if you run across the brand Bertolini, you can use as well, they manufacture the cake yeast too.
It’s funny you posted a comment today because I have another reader that commented today and she is from Port Stanley, it really is a small world.
May 29th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
A cool chocolate dessert would be perfect on this scorching hot day! What a gorgeous treat~
May 31st, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Grrrr. I am so dissapointed I will be missing out on all these treats! Ricardo and I will be in Vegas, so I suppose my tastebuds will still be tickled there. If you’d like me to pick you up something that’s hard to find up here, just let me know! xo
June 1st, 2011 at 5:21 am
Oh no Alexis but wish I was coming with you, I am so jealous, my favourite place to visit. Where are you staying? Could definitely use some good chocolate. I’ll give you a call this week.
June 21st, 2011 at 12:06 am
Oh my goodness, this looks fabulous! I personally love panna cotta and I used to eat it all the time when I lived in Italy… I’ve never had a chocolate version though! I must try to make this.
September 12th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
i like this.. thank’s you very much ,.. good job
March 29th, 2012 at 3:10 pm
[...] Original recipe: http://gracessweetlife.com/2011/05/milk-chocolate-panna-cotta-with-port-cherry-sauce/ [...]