Mocha panna cotta is instant coffee and chocolate flavored creamy Italian pudding. It is a perfect dessert for any occasion and especially for chocolate lovers.
What is Panna Cotta?
Panna cotta is an easy, creamy Italian dessert prepared with cream, sugar and gelatin. Pudding is set in a mould and refrigerated for 1-2 hours until set. Panna cotta literally means cooked cream and I guess you can call it a pudding. Panna cotta comes in many flavors and mocha panna cotta is one of them.
What is Mocha Panna Cotta?
Mocha panna cotta is a chocolate and instant coffee flavored panna cotta. To the basic panna cotta recipe, add some chocolate and instant coffee, and a delicious dessert is ready.
Ingredients
Cream, sugar, gelatin and flavoring agent of choice are the basic ingredients. To cut down on calories, use half and half, and milk as this recipe. Most common flavorings for panna cotta are vanilla, chocolate and/or instant coffee. For mocha flavor use both chocolate and instant coffee and leave out instant coffee for chocolate panna cotta.
What is Gelatin?
Gelatin is a brittle powder prepared from animal collagen. Soak it in water before using and becomes sticky when dissolved in water. It comes in powder form as well as in sheets. I work with powder gelatin which is available in most of supermarket in the United States.
Substitute gelatin with agar agar for vegan or vegetarian version. I did not substitute it for gelatin in panna cotta and am assuming you can use same quantity as gelatin. Agar agar is available in Chinese, some Asian and Indian stores.
How to prepare?
- Soak gelatin in some warm water.
- Bring cream or cream + milk to a boil, add chocolate, instant coffee and mix well.
- Add sugar and gelatin. Mix well, remove from fire.
- When the mixture cools, strain and pour in small ramekins and refrigerate for 1 -2 hours until set.
How to serve?
Serve in the ramekin or unmould onto a plate and serve with some fruits. An alternative is to serve with some fruit sauce. I prefer serving with some fresh fruits; raspberries, blueberries or strawberries.
When to serve?
Panna cotta is a great dessert for date nights, Valentine’s day, Mothers Day and any special occasion. You do not need an occasion to prepare this dessert. It is perfect dessert for any day!! Definitely a delight for chocoholics. Ultimate chocolate brownies with no churn ice cream is another delight for chocoholics and perfect dessert for Valentine’s day or Mothers Day.
Mocha Panna Cotta Recipe
Adapted from: Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khana Khazana
Mocha Panna Cotta
Equipment
- Ramekins or small straight edged pans or bowls
- Sauce Pan
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Cream I use half & half
- ¾ cup Milk I use 2% milk
- 50 grams Dark Chocolate grated I used unsweetened bitter chocolate
- 1 tbsp. Instant Coffee Powder
- 4 tbsp. Brown Sugar I used 5 tbsp. white sugar
- 1 ½ tsp. Gelatin or 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin
Instructions
- Grate or cut chocolate into small pieces.
- Take gelatin in a bowl and pour some cold or warm water, just enough to soak the gelatin.
- Heat milk and cream (half & half) in a pan.
- When milk comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium – medium low, add instant coffee & chocolate, and mix until chocolate melts.
- Add sugar and gelatin and mix well. Taste the mixture and add sugar if needed.
- Remove from fire, cool the mixture, strain it and pour it into small containers. I used 2 ramekins and 2 heart shaped mini cake pans.
- Cover the pans and the ramekins with a saran wrap and refrigerate until set. It should set in at least an hour or two but I usually keep it for 4 hours.
- Serve the panna cotta as it is in the ramekins or flip it over onto a plate. I tried flipping the panna cotta from the ramekins, which is sometimes challenging. However, it is a lot easier with the straight edge pans or heart shaped pans. With a knife or with the butter spreader, slightly run it around the pan to loosen the pannacotta. Place a plate on the pan and flip it over.
- Serve the mocha panna cotta as it is or with some berries of one’s choice.
Notes
- Cream – I use half and half to cut back on calories. Use creamy if you want indulge
- Milk – Use whole milk for a thick pudding but 2% milk also works fine.
- Flavor – Substitute chocolate and instant coffee with your favorite flavor. Vanilla, and chocolate are the two flavors I tried.
Nutrition
Note – Post edited and republished in Feb 2020
Anshu says
Wooooow, the pannacotta looks so delicious and the pics are making it look even more irrisistible…
sasmita says
Wow I am in love with the shape of this panna cotta !
So so perfectly you have made … decorated with fresh fruits it is looking much beautiful..
Swati says
So gorgeous pics!! treat to the eyes and taste buds.. prefect for Valentine’s day!! Loved your stepwise detailed process steps
Usha Rao says
Thank you Swati
Uma Srinivas says
Mocha Panna cotta look so yummy! perfect for Valentine’s day! the recipe looks easy and beautifully explained.
Usha Rao says
Thank you Uma.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
This is just the perfect recipe for Valentine’s day! I love the beautiful glaze on your Panna Cotta. The pictures are brilliant.
Usha Rao says
Thank you Sandhya
Priya Srinivasan says
So beautifully done usha! the shape has come out so perfect and love how you have presented it with fresh fruits!!! And that contrast colors makes the picture pop!!!!
Usha Rao says
Thanks Priya
Shailender Sharma says
Mocha panna cotta looks like a blast. So much beauty in it. A perfect one for the valentine.
Usha Rao says
Thank you.
Lata Lala says
Mocha pana cotta is a perfect dish to impress your valentine. Loved the way you have served it in heart shape, so cute it looks.
Usha Rao says
Thanka Lata
Mayuri Patel says
Yummmmmmy! My all time favorite dessert is panna cotta not only because its so creamy but its so easy to make. Will have to try out the mocha flavour. As for same amount of agar agar to replace gelatin works. I’ve used both powder and flakes. For powder its exactly the same amount as gelatin and for flakes you take tbsp measurement. So for this recipe it will be 1 1/2 tbsp of flakes and 1 1/2tsp of powder.
Usha Rao says
Mayuri, thanks for sharing the replacement measurements for agar agar. That is very helpful.
Pavani says
That is a creamy and delicious Panna cotta Usha. Making it in heart shape makes it just perfect for Valentine’s day!!
Usha Rao says
Thanks Pavani
Poornima says
wow…. looks fantastic…. im drooling right now…. looooved it…
Mireille says
even though no sunlight I find the brightness of sky when it is snowing is great for taking pictures and that 1st photo with the snowflakes looks awesome!
Pavani says
Mocha pannacotta sounds so sinfully delicious. Clicks have come out absolutely gorgeous. Very tempting indeed.
Priya Srinivasan says
ohoo, ahhaaa, i m so loving it, i called everyone in my family to come and look @ this picture now!!! All are just glued to the screen behind me as i type the comment. I m so definitely making this for the weekend!!! 🙂
themadscientistskitchen says
WOooooooooooww! Bookmarking Absolutely love it.
vijayalakshmi says
wow it looks so heaven… Love the presentation and apt treat for V day… 🙂
Srivalli says
Wow usha, the first picture is classic!..actually all the pics look stunning, however the first one has a fantastic effect!