Foolproof Italian Panna Cotta Recipe

This recipe makes perfectly creamy and delicious foolproof Italian panna cotta. With just 5 ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time, this is an easy make-ahead dessert. Delicious chopped with cherry sauce, berry coulis, caramel sauce, chocolate, and more! This recipe makes 6 individual ramekins of panna cotta.

Panna cotta is a dessert I make often in my Italian kitchen, where I make many Italian dessert recipes. Because not only is it super tasty, but it's so easy to prep ahead. So if you're having a gathering, you can even prep this Italian dessert recipe a few days in advance and just keep it in your fridge until ready to serve. Plus, it's a nice light dessert, especially if you've had a heavier meal.

A classic Italian Sunday meal for me would be a nice plate of penne pomodoro, some Italian chicken cutlets, a side dish like carciofi alla romana, and finish the meal off with this panna cotta. I am now officially drooling just thinking of this menu. Will probably be making all of this for next Sunday's dinner 🙂

Topping ideas

• Seasonal berry sauce/coulis: Layer your homemade panna cotta with a sauce made from raspberries, strawberries, or blackberries (I like this raspberry sauce recipe)
• Caramel sauce: Adds a buttery, toasty flavor
• Cherries: Cherry panna cotta is a delicious variety (see my cherry sauce recipe)
• Shaved chocolate: Sprinkle a little dark or milk chocolate over finished panna cotta

How to make it

To unmold or not to unmold?

I used these molds and love them so much because it's super easy to remove the panna cotta. I've used porcelain ramekins in the past, and found it difficult to remove the panna cotta.

If you do use ramekins and want to remove the panna cotta, you will have to grab a saucepan and bring water to a simmer so it's hot. The water should be deep enough to just come below the rim of the ramekin. Turn the heat off. Place the ramekin in the water for a few seconds (5-10 seconds) to loosen the panna cotta. Invert panna cotta on to the serving dish. If it doesn't come off, run a knife along the edge of the panna cotta and return to the water for another few seconds. Invert on to the plate again.

You can also always keep the panna cotta in the ramekin and top it with the sauce, and serve it in the ramekin (or pretty glasses would work well too). This would probably be my choice if I was serving the panna cotta in ramekins.

Recipe