Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Quick & Easy Dessert Recipes Panna Cotta With Vanilla Syrup 5.0 (1) This luscious dessert is as easy as it is elegant. Close Credit: Jacob Fox Prep Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 35 mins Total Time: 3 hrs Servings: 6 Jump to recipe Our panna cotta recipe is a classic that's made with heavy cream, milk, sugar, and gelatin and drizzled with a fragrant vanilla syrup for serving. The individual desserts look elegant and a little intimidating to make but all it takes is a few easy steps—plus a bit of chilling—and these impressive-looking desserts will be ready for your guests. Panna cotta is Italian for cooked cream, but the recipe only calls for heating the cream long enough for the added sugar to dissolve. From there, you’ll let unflavored gelatin work its magic, turning those four ingredients into a luscious, creamy treat that looks like it came straight from a restaurant kitchen. Heavy Cream vs. Heavy Whipping Cream—and How Other High-Fat Dairy Fits In What Is Panna Cotta? Panna cotta hails from Italy, specifically the Piedmont region in the north of the country, which is home to other famous foods like risotto, fritto misto, bagna cauda, and the bite-size sandwich cookies, baci de dama. With its short ingredient list and simple preparation, panna cotta is one of the easiest desserts to master, though it requires a couple of hours for the gelatin to set up. Its mild, milky taste takes well to all manner of flavorings but is most often flavored with vanilla. We work vanilla into our panna cotta recipe, but rather than add it to the base itself, it's incorporated into a fragrant syrup spiked with marsala wine and drizzled over top for serving. Equipment for Making Panna Cotta To whip up panna cotta at home, you'll need a few pieces of kitchen equipment that you may already have on hand, including: Ramekins: Panna cotta is nearly always served in individual portions, so you'll want to dig out six small ramekins to chill the mixture in. They should each hold about three and one-half ounces and be three inches in diameter and one and one-half inches deep. Saucepan: You'll need a small or medium saucepan to make the panna cotta as well as the vanilla syrup. It should be able to comfortably hold at least two cups of liquid. Whisk: A whisk is needed to incorporate the hot cream into the water-gelatin mixture. In place of a whisk, you could use a large fork. Bowls: You'll need three bowls for this recipe: a medium one to hold the water-gelatin mixture, another medium bowl (or a large liquid measuring cup) to strain the gelatin-dairy mixture into, and a small bowl for straining the vanilla syrup. Fine-mesh strainer: After whisking together the panna cotta mixture, you'll want to pour it through a fine-mesh strainer to ensure the finished dessert is completely smooth. You'll also use the strainer when making the vanilla syrup. Vanilla bean substitutes: If you can't locate vanilla beans, you can use one tablespoon of either pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste instead, just add it after cooking the syrup to preserve its flavor. How to Make Panna Cotta Ahead You can make panna cotta up to one day ahead of time. To do so, prepare it through step 3, then wrap each ramekin tightly in plastic and refrigerate until you're ready to unmold and serve. Directions Credit: Jacob Fox Prep dishes; bloom gelatin: Place six 3 1/2-ounce ramekins (3 inches in diameter, 1 1/2 inches deep) on a rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate until cold. Put 3 tablespoons cool water into a medium bowl. Sprinkle with gelatin; let stand until gelatin has softened, about 5 minutes. Credit: Jacob Fox Heat cream and sugar; add to gelatin and whisk, then add milk: Stir together cream and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, until bubbles form at edges, about 2 minutes. Pour cream mixture into bowl with gelatin; whisk until gelatin has dissolved. Stir in milk. Credit: Jacob Fox Strain into bowl then transfer to ramekins: Pour through a sieve into a bowl. Pour cream mixture into chilled ramekins. Refrigerate on baking sheet until set, about 2 hours. Credit: Jacob Fox Make vanilla syrup: Stir together sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and 1 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until mixture has reduced to about 1/2 cup and has the consistency of a thin syrup, 25 to 30 minutes. Credit: Jacob Fox Strain syrup, cool and add Marsala: Pour through a sieve into a small bowl. Let cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in Marsala, and set aside until ready to use. Unmold and serve with syrup: To serve, dip one ramekin in a bowl of hot water for 20 seconds; make sure water does not reach the rim. Invert panna cotta onto a dessert plate, gently shaking and tapping ramekin to unmold. Repeat to ummold the remaining ramekins. Drizzle each panna cotta with vanilla syrup, and serve. If unmolding is difficult, return the ramekin to hot water briefly. Credit: Jacob Fox How to Store Leftover Panna Cotta and Syrup Panna cotta can be refrigerated, tightly wrapped in plastic, for up to three days. We don't recommend freezing leftover panna cotta as it can drastically change its texture. If you find yourself with leftover vanilla syrup, you can refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to one month. Try stirring it into hot or iced beverages, drizzle it over pancakes or waffles, or work it into cocktails. Variations To dress up panna cotta more, top them with fresh, in-season fruit like berries or stone fruit in the summer, figs in the fall, or citrus segments in the winter. Alternatively top them with some candied fruit. In place of the vanilla syrup, drizzle panna cotta with an easy fruit sauce or top with a sprinkling of chocolate shavings. 5 More Italian Dessert Recipes to Try Martha's Tiramisu Coconut-Lime Semifreddo Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti Chocolate-Pistachio Tartufo Zaleti (Venetian Cornmeal Cookies) Updated by Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.