Coffee and Cream Panna Cotta

Make these layered coffee and cream panna cottas for your next fiddly food project! Not only do they look amazing, they also taste lovely - not too sweet with a lovely coffee and vanilla flavour.

It takes about 2 hours to set up all the layers (with lots of downtime in between) and then, it’s best to let everything sit in the fridge overnight before unmolding. I suggest you put on a cozy movie and do a craft at the same time.

This recipe makes 8 panna cottas. I used little pudding molds that hold 140ml each. Depending on the size of your molds, you might need to tweak things a little. Here is what worked for me.

Ingredients

Coffee layer: 

420ml strong hot coffee

1 ½ envelopes Knox gelatin

140ml Kahlua*

Panna cotta layer:

280ml whole milk

1 ½ envelopes Knox gelatin

70g granulated sugar

280ml cream

1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste

*If you don’t want to use Kahlua, use 560ml of coffee and sweeten with 50g sugar instead.

Directions

1. Very lightly grease molds. Place them on a tray that you can easily slide in and out of your fridge.

2. In a medium bowl, sprinkle gelatin over hot coffee and allow to bloom for a few minutes. Whisk and check to see if any gelatin granules remain. I like to pop it in the microwave (or you could use a double boiler) and give it a quick blitz if the gelatin hasn’t fully dissolved.

3. Stir in Kahlua. (If not using Kahlua, add sugar to hot coffee along with gelatin and stir until dissolved.)

4. Pour a thin layer into each mold and allow to set up in the fridge. My molds are smaller at the top and taper out at the bottom so the first few layers of coffee and panna cotta were around 10-11ml each and then the final layers were closer to 20ml. Use a scale for this.

Here’s an approximate guide of my measurements:

• Layers 1 + 2 - 10-11ml

• Layers 3, 4, 5 + 6 - 15 ml

• Layers 7 + 8 - 20ml

In total, I had 4 panna cotta layers and 4 coffee layers. The whole layering process took me about 2 hours. You might need to do a little math if your molds are a different shape and size.

5. While the first coffee layer sets up, make the panna cotta. Pour milk into a medium saucepan and sprinkle gelatin overtop. Allow to bloom for a few minutes. 

6. Heat milk mixture over low, whisking until gelatin has dissolved. Stir in sugar and whisk again until dissolved. 

7. Remove from the heat and stir in cream and vanilla. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool slightly.

8. Once the first coffee layer is firm enough, pour over a layer of the cooled panna cotta mixture and place molds back in the fridge.

9. Repeat the layering of coffee and panna cotta until both are done. Both mixtures might set up a bit as you go through this process (I stored the panna cotta mixture in the fridge so it definitely firmed up). You can warm them slightly to melt them again. Just make sure they aren’t warm enough to melt the other layers before pouring them over top.

10. Once you are ready to serve and unmold, place molds into hot water for a few seconds and flip onto a plate.