Creamy chocolate panna cotta is a beautiful chilled dessert served in individual portions. It can be made with milk chocolate, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate and topped with anything you’d like!
While I’m a sucker for a classic Italian Panna Cotta, this recipe was born out of my son’s obsession with eating chocolate in various forms. And honestly I don’t blame him for the sweet tooth he clearly inherited from me.
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What is panna cotta?
Panna cotta means ‘cooked cream’ in Italian. This is an eggless custard dessert that includes very few ingredients consisting of a simple mixture of cream, sugar, chocolate, and vanilla. Gelatin is added to set the mixture and create a dreamy, custard-like consistency. The final product is rich and silky smooth.
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Why make chocolate panna cotta?
The addition of chocolate just gives more flavor to this dessert. It isn’t overloaded with too much chocolate either. Despite the heavy cream, this dessert is perfect as a light, not-too-sweet dessert after a heavy meal.
And if you’re new to making desserts with gelatin, don’t fear! It’s incredibly easy to work with and I’m going to walk you through every step of making this delicious panna cotta.
This pudding-like chocolate dessert is easy to make, but it does require enough patience to let the dessert set in the refrigerator as it cools.
Easy method for making chocolate panna cotta
Bloom the gelatin. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water, coffee, or milk in a small mixing bowl and let it sit for a few minutes to gelatinize. You’ll notice the gelatin mixture turns into something that looks like soft, rubbery Jello.
Gelatin is a thickening agent made of tiny granules that have no color or flavor. Depending on where you’re from, gelatin may be sold in sheets or boxes containing 2 or more envelopes. One envelope usually contains ¼ – ½ oz. (7-14g) of unflavored gelatin whereas one sheet is around 1 teaspoon (5g).
Make the cream mixture. While your gelatin is setting, heat the cream, sugar, pinch of salt, chocolate chips, and vanilla together in a saucepan until hot and you see a low boil. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved and most of the chocolate has melted.
Add the gelatin. Turn off the heat and scrape out the softened gelatin into the hot cream mixture. Immediately whisk until smooth. Adding the gelatin to the hot mixture is what activates it. Make sure the mixture is completely smooth and that there are no little crystals remaining. If there are, bring the saucepan back to the stove and heat very gently without letting the mixture boil (this is very important!) until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
Portion and set. Pour your panna cotta mixture into individual ramekins or glass dessert bowls and place in the refrigerator to set for a minimum of 4 hours. You can portion this dessert into any size you wish, but I typically do portion sizes of 2 to 4-ounces of liquid plus the toppings.
How to serve this dessert
Serve chilled and top with garnishes of your choice. This is a great way to customize this dessert and add another layer of flavor if desired. Some of my favorite toppings include making a mint flavored whipped cream, using orange fruit curd, layering the top with homemade ganache or quick caramel sauce, and adding toasted nuts.
Tips for making the perfect panna cotta
- If you wish to make an even lighter panna cotta, you can replace some of the heavy cream with milk.
- Fully dissolve all the gelatin. Using a whisk to combine the gelatin with the heavy cream mixture is the best way to do this. If you notice any tiny gelatin clumps or crystals, place the mixture over a low heat and whisk until dissolved. But do not bring it back to a full boil or this will ruin the gelatin’s ability to set.
- Skip imitation vanilla and go for the real thing. Real vanilla extract is best this recipe. This enhances the chocolate flavor along with the use of coffee and a pinch of salt.
Chocolate Panna Cotta (Easy!)
These individual chocolate panna cotta is simple to make and easy to customize with different flavored toppings.
Ingredients
Chocolate Panna Cotta
- ¼ cup (60ml) cold coffee, water, or milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons (4g) unflavored powdered gelatin*
- 2 cups (480ml) heavy cream
- ¼ cup (50g/1.8 oz.) granulated sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 4 oz (113g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the chocolate panna cotta
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Set out your 2oz dessert cups on a small sheet pan or level tray to make putting them in the fridge easier.
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Bloom the gelatin: Place cold coffee, water, or milk in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over the surface in a single layer. Be sure not to pile it as that will prevent the crystals from dissolving properly. Let stand for 5-10 minutes to soften.
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Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat cream, sugar, pinch of salt, chocolate chips, and vanilla on medium heat and bring just to a boil until sugar dissolves and chocolate is mostly melted. Remove from heat.
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Stir in gelatin and immediately whisk until smooth and dissolved. If the gelatin hasn’t fully dissolved, return the saucepan to the stove and heat gently over low heat. Stir constantly and don’t let the mixture boil.
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Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve and into a glass measuring cup with a pour spout. Pour cream into 6 individual 4oz dessert cups, leaving about room at the top for toppings. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until completely set.
Recipe Notes
Panna cotta desserts can be covered with plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
* If using sheet gelatin, use the same weight (4g). Add the sheets to a bowl filled with 2 cups water. Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then remove the sheets and stir them into the hot panna cotta as directed in the recipe (you don’t need to add it along with the water, such as in powdered gelatin – add the sheets only).
*Semi-sweet chocolate chips can be substituted for milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips.
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