Lemon Panna Cotta

I knew one of the first things I was going to make once the weather turned warm was a lemon panna cotta. I discovered it last year and fell in love with the smooth, silky texture. Panna cotta, or cooked cream, is an old treat from the mountains of northern Italy, where the cream is so spectacular it’s been eaten as a dessert all by itself for generations. This lemon version is super tangy with the zest and juice of 2 lemons. It’s the perfect backdrop for a cluster of fresh fruit and an edible blossom or two, and therefore the perfect dessert for an occasion like Mother’s Day,  a spring shower, or a just because romantic dinner.

I dug out my mini cookie and fondant cutters for this, and  the thinly sliced pieces of papaya, below, made beautiful little flowers and butterflies to scatter among the berries. Use slices of melon, mango, kiwi, banana, whatever you like. You can find these cute little sets in cooking stores, discount department stores, or here online. These little touches turn a plain lemon panna cotta into a celebration-worthy dessert.

But even though I lavished attention on the fruit garnish, the flavor of this lemon panna cotta stands on its own. I would be totally happy with a little pot of it all by itself. You know me, I’m not happy unless I’m going all the way with whatever flavor I’m playing with, so there’s nothing wishy-washy about the lemon presence here. The zest of 2 lemons begins the process as it infuses the essence of lemon into the cream and milk. Then the juice of both lemons goes in, followed by a dose of lemon extract.

The panna cotta can be made ahead of time so all you have to do is assemble the fruit at the last minute. This could be made into a beautiful tart with a graham cracker crust, and I also like it poured into small jam jars and garnished with a simple wedge of lemon and a sprig of mint. It can be rustic, or elegant, depending on how you present it.

Panna Cotta is a no bake dessert, and it’s one of the easiest of them all. It basically consists of heating cream and milk, and adding gelatin. That’s about the extent of it. Once it sets up in the refrigerator, it’s done.

For  vegan lemon panna cotta, substitute full fat coconut milk for the dairy cream and milk. You can use agar-agar, a seaweed derived gelatin substitute, in place of the gelatin.

Use 1 tsp powdered agar (for 1 envelope gelatin)

• Whisk into milk/cream
• Bring to a full boil*, simmer 1–2 min
• Remove from heat, add lemon
• Pour + chill

*Note: agar must boil to set.

If you cover your lemon panna cotta well, this can sit in the fridge for a couple of days before you serve it. Don’t add the fruit until you are ready to serve, and be sure to serve it cold, because gelatin will soften as it comes to room temperature. If you haven’t had panna cotta, I highly recommend it,  not only for the ease of preparation, but because it has a unique cool silky texture and can be flavored in a million ways. It makes a very elegant presentation with hardly any effort!

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Lemon Panna Cotta

3.74 from 53 votes

This light Lemon Panna Cotta is the perfect early spring dessert, it's no-bake, super simple, and easy to adjust for dairy free and vegan!

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Prep Time:15 minutes minutes

chilling:2 hours hours

Total Time:2 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• the zest and juice of 2 lemons, about 1/4 cup juice
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 envelope powdered gelatin, 7 grams or 2 1/4 teaspoons
• 1/4 tsp lemon extract, optional

Instructions

• Wash the lemons well. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the rinds from the lemons. You only want the yellow part, not the bitter white.
• Pour the cream and milk into a saucepan and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the lemon rinds and heat just until it almost comes to a boil. Turn off the heat and let sit for 30 minutes.
• Strain the cream mixture and return it to the pan.
• Pour 1/4 cup cold water into a small cup and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let sit for 5 minutes to soften.
• Reheat the cream mixture to just below a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin until completely dissolved.
• Let the mixture cool for about 5 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice and extract.
• Pour into jars or cups and refrigerate until set, 2–3 hours. Serve cold with berries, fruit, or edible flowers.
• Serve cold.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: custard, dessert, lemon, spring

Nutrition

Calories: 361 kcal · Carbohydrates: 21 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 30 g · Saturated Fat: 19 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 8 g · Cholesterol: 95 mg · Sodium: 37 mg · Potassium: 147 mg · Fiber: 0.03 g · Sugar: 21 g · Vitamin A: 1233 IU · Vitamin C: 4 mg · Calcium: 103 mg · Iron: 0.1 mg

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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