Coffee Panna Cotta

I borrowed Nigella Lawson's cookbook "Nigellissima" from the library and the fiance and I have tried a few recipes from the book and there are many more that we want to write down or make before I need to return it. Everything in the book looks and sounds amazing. So far we have made her Pasta Risotatta with Peas and Pancetta as well as her Green Beans with Pistachio Pesto. And being big panna cotta fans over here, I made her Coffee Panna Cotta earlier this week. I've been wanting to expand my panna cotta horizons from our regular roster of vanilla bean or skyr panna cottas so I was really excited to see this recipe in her book. 

This Coffee Panna Cotta is much softer than the other panna cotta's that I make because there is less gelatin in it. It is very silky and the coffee flavor is toned down just a little bit by the delicious cream in the recipe. It's like a latte in panna cotta form! We served ours with some freshly whipped cream and some chopped dark chocolate. I'm thinking a sprinkle of cinnamon or cocoa powder would be lovely on there as well! 

Coffee Panna Cotta (barely adapted from Nigella Lawson)

Makes 4 servings

2 gelatin sheets (1.7g per sheet) or 1 tsp gelatin powder bloomed in 2 tbsp of water 

1/2 cup freshly brewed espresso

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

11/2 cups heavy cream

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the hot espresso into a saucepan and stir in the brown sugar until it has dissolved. Then stir in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt before placing the saucepan on the stove over a low to medium heat. 

Place the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water or bloom the powdered gelatin now so that they have a few minutes to soften. When the coffee mixture is about to come to a boil, take the pan off the heat.

Squeeze the water out of the sheet gelatin and place them into the hot coffee mixture (or scrape the bloomed gelatin into the mixture). Whisk until the gelatin has fully dissolved. 

Transfer the coffee mixture to a heatproof pitcher and pour the mixture evenly into 4 glasses or 4 molds. Place the glasses or molds in the fridge for at least 6 hours, or preferably overnight, until set. 

Serve as it is or with some chocolate sauce or whipped cream and chopped chocolate like we did!

(If you prefer a firmer panna cotta, feel free to add a bit more gelatin. I plan on doing this the next time I make this recipe. For example, use 1/2 or even 1 whole sheet more.)

I hope you'll enjoy this Coffee Panna Cotta as much as I do!