Orange-Scented Panna Cotta with Strawberry Coulis

As promised on Monday, here’s the second of the panna cotta recipes that made their debut in our kitchen this past week. I was lucky enough to have bestowed upon me a huge bag of strawberries from a friend’s backyard (thanks, Emily!) Among other things, some of them ended up in this coulis, which is lip-smackingly good. This coulis is drinkable, I think. I don’t need an excuse. It’s that good.

Considering my devotion to this dessert as of late, naturally one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind as I gently washed the berries was “ooh, I think I’ll use some of these in a panna cotta.” After a quick Food Blog Search for “strawberry panna cotta,” I ended up on Clotilde’s delightful blog Chocolate and Zucchini, where she had what sounded like a simple and perfect recipe; creamy panna cottas topped with a bright, fresh strawberry coulis. For a little twist, I decided to add the zest and juice of a Valencia orange into the cream mixture as it simmers…the end result is the panna cotta equivalent of a Creamsicle (but so much better!) The taste of orange and cream together brought back memories of chasing down the ice cream truck when I was young to get a Creamsicle or, more often, my other favorite the Bomb Pop. Ah, yes. The blue part was the best…and those colors just aren’t natural, people. If I want an orange and cream combination now, I think I’ll opt for this panna cotta.

I think it’s safe to say you’ll probably be seeing many more panna cotta recipes on EoS this summer…I am in love with them!

Doesn’t that strawberry look happy swimming in the sea of coulis? I sure would be…

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Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini

View printable recipe

Ingredients
For the panna cotta:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
zest and juice of 1 Valencia orange (about 1/4 cup juice) — use an organic orange if you can, since you’re using the zest
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the strawberry coulis:
1 pound strawberries, trimmed and cut into quarters
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water

Directions
Make the panna cotta: In a small dish, pour the 1 tablespoon of water over the 1 teaspoon of gelatin and let it sit to soften. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream, milk, sugar, orange zest, and orange juice. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a large liquid measuring cup (I do this to strain out the zest so I have a completely smooth panna cotta, but you can skip this step if you want to leave the zest in the mixture.) Let the mixture cool about 5 minutes, then mix in the gelatin and the vanilla extract. Divide among 4 ramekins or glasses, cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours (they’ll be even firmer if you let them sit overnight.)

Make the coulis: In a saucepan, combine the quartered strawberries, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring just to a simmer, then turn off the heat and transfer to a blender or food processor. Blend using short pulses, just until it’s the consistency you like (I liked mine fairly smooth.) Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve the panna cotta.

To serve: if you’re unmolding the panna cotta, you can serve the coulis drizzled over the top. If you’re serving the panna cotta in the ramekins or glasses, simply layer the coulis right on top. Garnish each with a fresh strawberry, if you like.

Serves 4.