Quite possibly, tonight’s dessert will feature in the dreams of my children. I can almost guarantee that it will feature in mine!
My friend Jean-Paul (Laillet) featured this gorgeous recipe in his French cookbook ‘Tout Chocolat Blanc’, a wonderful collection of recipes, all based around the deliciousness of white chocolate. It has been way too many years since I last saw Jean-Paul, but my memories of hanging out together in the early 90’s in Paris are incredibly happy ones and also very much food-related. Such a beautiful introduction to the City of Lights, as well as to French food, wine, films, music and flair!
Je te remercie mille fois Jean-Paul – la belle Paris sera toujours dans mon coeur!
I have adjusted Jean-Paul’s original ingredient quanties (which served 12 very lucky people!) to produce enough Panna Cotta for a party of 4, however the recipe can very easily be doubled or tripled when necessary. Enjoy!
J-P's White Chocolate Panna Cotta
- 130g/4oz Good Quality White Chocolate
- 200ml (Thickened/Heavy) Cream
- 100ml (Full-Cream) Milk
- 3 Gelatine Leaves (I used ‘Gold’ strength, which are 2g each)
Chop the white chocolate into small chunks and set aside for a moment.
Place the gelatine leaves into a bowl of cold water and allow to soften for about 5 minutes – enough time for the following step to occur.
In a small saucepan, heat the cream and milk over medium heat until it just comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and then gently stir in the white chocolate.
Remove the gelatine leaves from the water and squeeze any excess water out with your hands. Add the gelatine to the warm cream mixture and stir gently until smooth and completely combined.
Pour into 4 small ramekins and allow to cool to room temperature, before placing in the refrigerator for about 3 hours, or until set.
When ready to serve, turn the Panna Cottas out onto plates or shallow bowls and serve with your choice of berry sauce/coulis, fresh fruit (such as passionfruit, mango or berries) or even a dusting of cocoa and some freshly-grated chocolate shards.
Cooking Notes:
- To release the Panna Cottas from the ramekins, I found it best to pour some very hot water into a shallow bowl and sit the ramekins in the water for 15 seconds or so. Run a sharp knife around the inside edge, before carefully turning out onto the plate.
- With only 4 ingredients in this dessert, please be sure to use the best possible quality you can find.
- To make an easy Raspberry Sauce for this dessert – blend together 200g defrosted, frozen raspberries (though please use fresh if you have them…) 2 tablespoons of icing sugar, along with a teaspoon of lemon juice. It can then be either served as it is, or passed through a sieve if you prefer a seedless sauce.
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Well, indeed! Merci beaucoup to Jean-Paul! It is a beautiful recipe and I’m sure delicious too.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks so very much for your lovely comment! 🙂
If there’s a more tantalizing way to present and photograph panna cotta, I’ve not seen it.
What a lovely thing to say – thanks very much John! 🙂 I regret to say that my photography can be a little hit and miss at times… I’m still very much learning the best way of capturing food, though with such a beautiful subject it was near impossible to get this one wrong! Cheers, Margot
I just love panna cotta… and with those gorgeous strawberries, this must be utterly delicious!
Thanks Lidia! It’s really a perfect combination – white chocolate and berries! 🙂
I would dream about this too!
Dreams can be such wonderful, indulgent things! 🙂
Oh my goodness what time is dinner 🙂
Dishing up in 15 minutes Karen – can you make it??? 🙂