White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

Creamy vanilla bean panna cotta, lightly sweetened with white chocolate and served in individual glass jars with plum berry compote. This light, refreshing, custard-like dessert can be made the night before and then topped with fresh fruit before serving the next day for a delicious and easy warm weather treat.

You might also love these recipes for lemon lush dessert, easy chocolate espresso mousse, and vanilla bean custard.

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What is Panna Cotta?

Panna cotta (Italian for “cooked cream”) is an Italian dessert made of cream and milk, sweetened with sugar and flavored with vanilla. It’s silky and creamy with a sweet, milky flavor that’s similar to custard or pudding, but with less richness since it doesn’t contain any egg yolks. And instead of being thickened with egg yolks or corn starch, it’s set with gelatin.

A popular way to serve panna cotta is to pour it into a molded dish, let it set and chill, then turn it out of the mold onto a plate. But you can also layer it in glass jars and parfait glasses or simply serve it in individual ramekins. It’s wonderful served with fresh fruit, chocolate or caramel sauce.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Easy to Make. There’s little skill involved in making panna cotta, so this recipe is simple enough for a beginner.

Make Ahead. You can make this dessert the night before and refrigerate it overnight to serve for dessert the next day.

Cold and Creamy. In the summer, I crave cool refreshing desserts, rather than rich heavy treats. This white chocolate panna cotta is light and creamy, and makes a lovely dessert for a hot day.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Fruit Compote

• Fruit. I used a combination of red plums, blueberries and rhubarb for my fruit compote. It’s tart, jammy and just sweet enough. You can also use a variety of stone fruits and berries, like pitted cherries, raspberries and blackberries.
• Granulated Sugar.

Panna Cotta

• Milk + Cream. Use whole milk and heavy whipping cream for a rich, silky texture.
• Gelatin. You’ll need unflavored powdered gelatin to thicken and set the filling.
• White Chocolate. This adds a subtle white chocolate flavor, but it also adds sweetness, with no other added sugar in the filling.
• Vanilla. Use vanilla bean paste or a whole vanilla bean for flavor and pretty black specks. You can also use vanilla extract.

Instructions

Fruit Compote

• In a saucepan, combine the fruit and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Continue to simmer the fruit over medium heat, stirring frequently to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot, for about 15 minutes, until some of the liquid has reduced, and the fruit has thickened into a jammy consistency. You’ll want to reduce the compote to about 1 1/2 cups to get the right consistency. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Set 6 jars or ramekins on a tray, and divide the fruit compote between the jars (1/4 cup of compote per jar).

Baker’s Note: If you’re using glass jars, and you want a clean, pristine line between the compote and the panna cotta, you should set the jars of fruit compote in the freezer for about an hour or until the compote is firm, before pouring the panna cotta on top.

Panna Cotta

• In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup of the milk. Stir in the gelatin, and let stand for 10 minutes to dissolve.
• Pour the rest of the milk and the cream into a saucepan. Set the saucepan over medium heat, and bring just to a simmer.
• Remove from the heat, and stir in the gelatin mixture, chopped white chocolate and vanilla bean paste, stirring until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, just to ensure there are no lumps of undissolved gelatin.
• Pour the panna cotta into the jars, on top of the fruit compote. Cover the jars with plastic wrap, preferably with the plastic resting right against the surface of the panna cotta, to prevent a skin from forming on top.

• Chill the jars of panna cotta in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours, or overnight, until chilled and set.
• Before serving, top with fresh fruit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make this recipe dairy free or vegan?

You can replace the whole milk and heavy whipping cream with your favorite non-dairy or plant based milk and cream. Since white chocolate also contains dairy, you would need to sweeten the milk with granulated sugar instead of the white chocolate.

How should I store the leftovers?

Store leftover jars of panna cotta, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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