It may seem like I have a slight obsession with brown sugar lately, especially after I made brown lemonade – the last time I made panna cotta I decided to sub white sugar with its brown alternative. Apart from giving the end product a different aftertaste, the use of brown sugar gave my panna cotta also a nice light brown colour. Panna cotta, which may go by the name of Italian custard, is a cream-based dessert that originates from the Italian region of Piemonte, my home region. It is probably my favourite dessert if I were to pick one from the culinary tradition of the part of Italy I grew up in.
Panna cotta can be served with various sauces, most commonly fruit coulis. My favourite version is with caramel. Using cane sugar will include that light caramel taste without the need to add any sauces. The sugar I used this time is a type that in Sweden is called Brun Farin Strö. It is made of sugar crystals and dark cane sugar syrup, so technically it is a refined type, darkened with syrup. It is the syrup that gives it an interesting taste and vivid colour. You can already imagine how much this can potentially stain something as white as panna cotta!
Brown sugar panna cotta:
- 250 ml heavy cream
- 50 ml full-fat milk
- 60 g brown sugar
- 5 g gelatin sheets
This is a “smaller” version of the recipe. Traditionally, panna cotta recipes call for at least 500 ml of cream. I was expecting one guest so I had to serve only a party of three so I figured that we didn’t need that much and went for a reduced amount. White sugar is a tad sweeter than brown sugar, so I recommend lowering the sugar does to 50 g if making the traditional version, still following this recipe. Brown sugar will require that half teaspoon more.
Panna cotta is basically a gelatin with milk recipe. Soak the gelatin in a bowl of cold water and warm up the milk in a small saucepan. When the milk is about to boil (but don’t let it reach boiling temperature or it will froth), remove it from the heat, drain the gelatin and add it to the milk. Stir until it dissolves, then set aside. In another saucepan combine cream and sugar and warm up stirring to dissolve the sugar. Again, remove from the heat just before it boils. Pour in the milk and gelatine mixture, give it one final good stir and pour mixture into single-serving containers, like those adorable jars.
I love the little glasses! Such a nice touch. 🙂
I just had to buy them when I found them at the store. They’re great for storing the dessert in the fridge, too, as they come with a lid!
Looks so good..i love those cute little canisters
Thank you, I love them too! I’m obsessed, I’m gonna make all my desserts in them now 🙂
I have those mini jar at home but i usually use it to store spices. I’ll go buy more ! this is indeed a nice idea for dessert
I also have some for spices, but I bought brand new ones as I didn’t want my panna cotta to have a garam masala aftertaste 😀
Beautiful presentation! I’ve actually never eaten traditional panna cotta but it’s something that I’ve wanted to try. It sounds delicious!
Thanks Jennifer! Sub the brown sugar in this recipe for white granulated sugar and you get the traditional recipe. Then you can add a sauce, like caramel or raspberry coulis. Or just go with this one and the caramel tone will be provided by the sugar! ^^
This looks so good! The flavour of brown sugar is basically one of my favourite tastes ever (I’ve been known to sneak spoonfuls directly from the jar, as terribly unhealthy as I know that is) – I need to make this! The brown sugar combined with the creamy texture of panna cotta has got to be good.
I like to eat brown sugar “a cucchiaiate” myself 😀 I really like the more classic version of regular (white) panna cotta with caramel sauce, but this combines both flavours, without the need for extra condiments 😉