Easy Salted Caramel Panna Cotta With Praline - Recipe Winners (2024)

FAQs

Why is my panna cotta hard? ›

The reason for the gelatin is obvious — a perfect panna cotta should have just enough that it seems the cream is barely holding together. It quivers when you touch it. When there's too much gelatin, the custard feels stiff and cheesy. Too little and, well, you've got a puddle on the plate when you unmold it.

The Science Behind The Flavour

Salt, on the other hand, stimulates the taste buds responsible for detecting sour and umami flavors, which can enhance the perception of sweetness. The addition of salt to caramel not only enhances the sweetness, but also adds a savory element to the flavor profile.

What makes panna cotta different from flan and creme brulee? Unlike creme brulee, eggs are not used to thicken the mixture for panna cotta. Instead, gelatin is added before the mixture comes to a boil. It is then strained, poured into moulds and frozen till it sets.

Some fruits such as pineapple and kiwi contain enzymes that break down the protein in gelatin so it never sets. This problem can be solved by heating the fruit in question first. Gelatin-based desserts go rubbery after a few days. Don't make your panna cotta more than about four days in advance.

In her lesson on how to make panna cotta she addresses what do to if your panna cotta doesn't set. One potential problem is the gelatin didn't melt all the way or you boiled the gelatin mixture. When you boil gelatin, it loses its thickening power and won't set up as desired.

These are sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Salted caramel combines two of these, giving an effect that chefs call “flavour layering”. Salt also acts as an enhancer of flavour (that's why you sprinkle it on your chips, for instance), so that's why it makes caramel taste even better.

The combination of salty and sweet flavours, plus fat, found in salted caramel releases an unusually intense rush of morphine-like endogenous opioids – or endorphins – in the brain. It does so, moreover, in a way that never gets boring, say scientists at the University of Florida.

But the salty, sweet and fatty elements of salted caramel create a more complex taste that subtly changes with every bite, keeping our brains cravingmore and more. This is a phenomenon known as 'hedonic escalation'.

If you find that your panna cotta separates into two layers, one that's creamy and one that's more gelatin-like — there can be two reasons. First, either your gelatin didn't bloom and dissolve properly when stirred into the cream. Second, the cream mixture boiled after the gelatin was added.

Each of those desserts has the same goal: take lots of milk or cream, sweeten it and, through heat and a thickening agent, make it custardy. Flan and crème brûlée use eggs, panna cotta uses gelatin and vanilla pudding and similar custards use eggs, cornstarch or flour.

How do you fix hard panna cotta? ›

Might try to leave it out of the fridge for one hour to bring it up to room temperature. This will soften the panna cotta. If it's still to hard it would be possible to reheat it and add more cream + sugar and chill it again. Gelatine can be remelted.

If this happens, it's best to soften it back into a liquid before adding it to the rest of the recipe. This is easily and quickly done by setting the bowl with the gelatin in a small saucepan filled with an inch of water over medium-high heat.

Food styling: Loïc Parisot. To turn out, dip each mould briefly in warm water for 10-15 seconds, making sure it doesn't touch the panna cotta, then use a small flexible knife or similar to pull the panna cotta away from the side in one place.

Give that a try, and if you still feel the texture can be improved upon, here's a trick I learned from a professional pastry chef: Just remelt your panna cotta in a saucepan on the stovetop.