Vanilla Orange Panna Cotta

It’s been a while since I did a dessert so I thought I would make a fun one before Valentine’s Day. One of my favorite things to serve after a nice dinner is a fancy dessert. But I don’t always feel like making something at the time. That’s where a dessert like this comes in handy. It can be made up to 24 hours ahead of time and just sits in the fridge until you’re ready for it.

For those of you that have never had panna cotta before it’s a custard-like dessert made with milk or cream and some flavoring. It has a creamy but delicate texture. Like a pudding and a mousse had a baby and dressed it up real fancy. This one has fantastic flavors in it. The vanilla bean and orange make it taste like a creamsicle.

The first time I had panna cotta was years ago while traveling with Nick. After college we traveled through Europe a little bit. And not in the cushy well pampered kind of way. Oh no, we traveled in the slept in a train station and a park kind of way. Trying to maximize our time and budget we didn’t often eat anywhere too fancy but after a particularly long day of language barriers, map reading errors, and hiking up a hill that was surely a mountain in the sweltering heat we decided to sit down and actually have a nice dinner. Not knowing how to read, speak, or understand Italian I just pointed at the dessert menu and said please. Panna cotta showed up. It was amazing. I had never had anything like it before.

A few years later I was craving that amazing dessert and I looked up a few recipes. As it turns out it was super simple to make. I’m not sure why I assumed it would be complicated. If you can make boxed jello you can certainly make panna cotta. So why not fancy up this Valentine’s Day with a fantastic homemade dessert and make your Valentine feel special. Don’t worry, I won’t tell them how easy it is or that you made it the night before 😉

Looking for other desserts this Valentine’s Day? Try some of my favorites.

Twix Bar Tart

Mini Elcairs

Raspberry Sorbet

Ingredients
yields 4-6 servings
1 orange
1 vanilla bean, split – seeds removed
2 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half and half
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 packet unflavored gelatin (like Knox) (about 2 t.)
cooking spray

Directions
1) Peel the rind from the orange with a vegetable peeler trying to get as little of the white part (the pith) as possible.

2) Place 1/2 the rind in a medium sauce pan with 3/4 cup of the milk, all the half and half, and the vanilla bean and its seeds. Bring to a simmer over medium heat stirring occasionally. Remove from heat after it comes to a simmer. Strain the mixture to remove the peel and the pod of the vanilla bean.

3) In a small bowl combine the gelatin and 1/4 cup of the remaining milk. Allow to sit for 10 minutes while the other milk mixture cools. Juice the orange.

4) Place the half and half mixture over medium high heat for 1 minute or until nearly simmering. Stir in the gelatin milk mixture and whisk until well combined. Add in the remaining milk and 3 T. of the juice from the orange and stir.

5) Pour the mixture into ramekins or custard cups (or even wine glasses if that’s all you have) that have been thoroughly sprayed with cooking spray. Refrigerator for at least 5 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve with bits of the remaining peel (store the peel in an air-tight container in the fridge to avoid it drying out). Place the containers upside down on a plate and the custard should fall right out. If you forgot to spray the cups no problem, just serve them in the cups!