If you’re looking for an easy-peasy dessert to serve your significant other (or any of your loved ones) for a special occasion, look no further. This vegan panna cotta recipe is here to rescue.
Panna cotta is an Italian dessert traditionally made with heavy cream, gelatin, and set to rest in the refrigerator so that it molds into a jelly dessert. While it was one of my favorite desserts before going plant-based, traditional panna cotta isn’t exactly vegetarian and (most certainly) not vegan friendly due to the use of gelatin as it derives from animal ingredients (if you Google what gelatin is made of, it’s really disturbing). In this recipe, the star that makes this into a jelly dessert is agar agar. Which is a thickening powder derived from seaweed – now doesn’t that sound a bit more pleasing? #plantpower
It may seem like panna cotta is very intimidating to make for its fancy name and finding this particular dessert in higher end restaurants, but the truth is, it actually isn’t. This recipe requires no baking and is very forgiving if you do decide to adjust the sweetness or customize it to different flavors. And did I mention that you only have twenty-minutes or less of active time? 20-minutes or less for a dessert! Yes, yes, and yes!
Making this recipe was a lot of fun! I was trying to experiment with sweeteners, plant milk options, thickening agent, and fruits to top the dessert with. As a result, I’ve come to a conclusion that using maple syrup and coconut milk will be the base of this dessert. While I understand that maple syrup is a much superior (at least in my opinion) sweetener and a bit costly compared to agave or normal granulated sugar, I find that it gives the panna cotta a delicious créme caramel taste (flan). I have experimented with both agave and granulated sugar – while it was still very tasty, it felt a little flat for me. Secondly, using full fat coconut milk is magic for a creamy panna cotta. I’ve done half soy milk and coconut milk, there wasn’t much of a difference in taste but I did like the texture of what one-hundred percent coconut milk brought, it was creamy and held its shape just perfectly without being too firm or runny as how I wanted it to be. And traditionally, most panna cotta recipes called for cream anyway which coconut milk makes the best substitute for.
Lastly, macerated strawberries as a topping added a sophisticated finish to the entire dessert. Yes, macerate. In cooking and baking terms, macerating strawberries is basically softening the fruit by coating it in sugar and a little bit of lemon juice allowing it to release its natural juices and soaking it in for at least thirty-minutes. Which, I find, one of the better alternatives and it makes the dessert less overtly sweet. Strawberries on top of a creamy dessert, come on! What is not to love?
Are you a fan of fancy desserts? Let me know in the comment section below and if you do make this recipe, be sure to rate it and share it!
Vegan Strawberry Panna Cotta (Gluten & Soy Free)
Equipment
- sauce pan
- whisk & spatula
- ramekins, dessert molds, or dessert cups
- box grater or micro plane
Ingredients
FOR THE PANNA COTTA
- 350 ml (1½ cup) full fat coconut milk see notes
- 35 g (roughly about ¼ cup) maple syrup see notes
- 50 ml (¼ cup) hot water
- ½ tsp agar agar powder see notes
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
FOR THE MACERATED STRAWBERRIES
- 195 g chopped fresh strawberries roughly about 4-6 strawberries
- 20 g granulated sugar about 2 tbsp.
- pinch of kosher salt
- ½ tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
FOR THE PANNA COTTA
- Mix of agar agar powder with the hot water to fully dissolve, making sure that there are no clumps. Clumps of the powder may unevenly set.
- Preheat sauce pan to medium low heat.
- Pour the coconut milk into the sauce pan and whisk in the agar agar powder mixture until it is well combined. Add in the rest of the ingredients such as the vanilla extract and maple syrup.
- Allow the mixture to simmer for about 5-7 minutes or until it is close to a boil. Whisk every minute (or so) to make sure the agar agar powder is not clumping in the mixture.
- Turn off heat. Pour the mixture into a couple of molds or ramekins. Divide equally between the molds.
- Allow it to set in the fridge overnight or in the freezer for at least an hour.
FOR THE MACERATED STRAWBERRIES
- In small mixing bowl, add the chopped strawberries and sugar. Mix until strawberries are fully coated in sugar.
- Squeeze in roughly a teaspoon of lemon juice and add in a tiny pinch of salt and lemon zest.
- Fold mixture together with a spatula thoroughly. Allow it to sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes until the juices of the strawberries release.
ASSEMBLY
- You can serve the panna cotta as is and top with strawberries. You can also serve the panna cotta on a small saucer simply by placing the saucer on top of the the mold (or ramekin) and carefully flipping the mold over the saucer. The panna cotta should slide easily but if it is too difficult, you can also run a butter knife or a cake spatula around the corners of the panna cotta before flipping over to loosen it up.
Notes
- Milk – Always choose plant milk with a high fat content. Full fat coconut milk will work the best for this recipe. Using alternatives like coconut lite or other plant milks may alter the texture and creaminess of the dessert.
- Sweeteners – You can definitely use your choice of sweetener or choose your level of sweetness. I do prefer using maple syrup as it gives a great “caramel” flavor to the panna cotta. Compared to using regular granulated sugar or agave, maple syrup tasted the best overall. But you can always customize it according to your preference.
- Thickener – Agar agar powder is THE BEST option for this recipe. I would not substitute it with anything else. If you are living on Guam, it will be difficult to find on island but you can go to Simply Foods or big Asian grocery stores such as American Groceries or New Happy Mart as your best bet to find it. I got mine online at Vitacost and it arrived within 4-5 days. I usually don’t result to online purchases for a lot of my ingredients but I have tried this dessert with tapioca starch and corn starch, both have failed in texture.