Balsamic Strawberry Panna Cotta

Balsamic strawberry panna cotta is a dessert dish that’s got a delightful flavor and is never heavy. The addition of a balsamic strawberry topping to the panna cotta makes the flavor even more surprising and delightful!

You can serve Panna Cotta with just about any sweet or fruit topping; it doesn’t need to be strawberries – but these strawberries in balsamic are terrific.

Panna Cotta is an old Italian dessert; but, the idea for serving it with balsamic strawberries comes from the Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook by Ina Garten.

There aren’t too many ingredients in panna cotta and since it’s so simple, using the best ingredients results in a dessert that is light and wonderful.

We usually use our own homemade yogurt, homemade vanilla extract (learn how HERE), and a good balsamic vinegar imported from Italy.

The photo above shows a panna cotta that’s been unmolded from a ramekin and then topped with the balsamic strawberries, but it’s even easier to use small canning jars.

The presentation of the panna cotta and balsamic strawberries isn’t quite as spectacular as the unmolded panna cotta, but it tastes just as good.

Plus, if you use the canning jars, you can put on the lids and take them with you for a fancy dessert course. Of course, this also makes a nice dessert dish for a Valentine’s dinner!

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Balsamic Strawberry Panna Cotta

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 packet unflavored gelatin 2 tsps
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons  vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4 pints sliced fresh strawberries
• 5 tablespoons  balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• In a medium size bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the cream, the yogurt, and the vanilla extract.  Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the cream mixture.
• Heat the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream and 3/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.
• In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin into 3 tablespoons of cold water, and stir until the gelatin dissolvs.
• Off the heat, add the softened gelatin to the hot cream mixture and stir to dissolve.  Pour the hot cream mixture into the cold cream-yogurt mixture and stir to combine.  Pour into eight pint canning jars  or ramekins (don't fill entirely so there's room left for the topping- I filled these a little too much), cover with canning lids or plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
• About an hour before  serving, combine the strawberries, balsamic vinegar, sugar, and pepper.  At serving time, remove the caps from the canning jars, add strawberries (or let everyone add their own), and serve.

Makes 8 servings.