Panna cotta is one of those really simple desserts, that doesn’t require of any pastry squills what so ever, it can save us at the time of inviting friends over to surprise them with a delicious dessert that sounds fancy. It is a classic of Italian cuisine. Traditionally it is made only with cream, but recipes are always changing and today it is more usual to use a mix of milk and cream to make it a little bit lighter.
Even if you don’t believe it, it is sunny in England and my kitchen is always sunny, so I decided for this couple of sunny weeks to leave the oven, because every time I bake something the house gets extremely hot and we get tons of mosquitos, so for the moment I am only making ice creams and summer desserts like this panna cotta.
I chose the tonka bean, that I was introduced to in France and it fast became my favourite ingredient. It is native of Central America and the north of South America, in countries like Venezuela and Colombia. In some countries like the US, it is actually illegal as an ingredient because if you eat tons you can get liver damage. But let me tell you that it is delicious and you don’t really need to put a lot of it, so don’t worry that you won’t get sick eating the pannacotta.
In France, it is a really common ingredient in the pastry shops, and you have to be really careful because it has a strong and overpowering flavor, so you have to use just enough to get the perfect flavor.
