This Strawberry Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce is a deliciously light and creamy summer dessert. Perfect Dessert for a Party, Date Night or even Valentine's Day, this Panna Cotta with Strawberry is both quick and easy to make, and can be prepared in advance too!
Why we love this recipe
Fresh, creamy and light, this Strawberry Panna Cotta is simply perfect for summer! It is an easy recipe to prepare as a dinner party dessert, for gatherings or as a simple sweet treat.
The Panna Cotta Cream is lightly flavoured with a homemade Strawberry sauce. And the Strawberry Sauce topping adds a real burst of flavours to this dessert. Finish it with fresh Strawberries and a few Mint Leaves and you got yourself a beautiful dessert your guests will love!
Just like my Mango Panna Cotta, I love that it can be made ahead with fresh or frozen fruits. It can easily be adapted to be made dairy-free and even vegetarian and vegan like my Vegan Strawberry Coconut Panna Cotta too!
Ingredients
There are two sets of ingredients required to make this recipe. You will need to prepare a Strawberry Sauce (Strawberry Coulis) that is used both inside the Panna Cotta and as a topping too.
For the Strawberry Sauce (scroll down to recipe card for all quantities):
- Strawberries: you can use both fresh or frozen strawberries for this recipe. No need to thaw them either if using frozen ones!
- Lemon Juice: to balance the flavour of the strawberries and help the sauce thicken
- Sugar: I used Caster Sugar or Fine White Granulated Sugar. You could use Brown Sugar too, or even a liquid sweetener like Honey or Maple Syrup, but you will need to cook the sauce for longer to remove any extra liquid.
For the Panna Cotta Cream (scroll down to recipe card for all quantities):
- Strawberry Sauce: part of the Strawberry Coulis prepared during the first step is added to the panna cotta cream to flavour it. The rest is used as a topping layer over the cream
- Liquid: a mix of Milk (I used Full Cream Milk) and Cream (Heavy/Thickened). You could use only milk or cream but I have found that the best texture is found by mixing both.
- Sugar: again, White Granulated Sugar or Caster Sugar.
- Vanilla: Essence, Extract or Paste. You could also use fresh Vanilla Bean if preferred, although it tends to be very pricey. It is an optional ingredient, but definitely boosts the flavour of the dessert!
- Gelatine: I use a Gelatine Powder mixed with a little bit of cold water. Gelatine Leaves can be used instead, but tend to be harder to find in supermarkets.
To make this recipe with no gelatine (thus vegetarian), read the FAQs section below.
How to make Strawberry Panna Cotta
There are two steps to make this dessert. First, you will need to prepare the Strawberry Sauce for Panna Cotta - which is actually a Strawberry Coulis. Secondly, you will have to make the Panna Cotta Cream flavoured with the Strawberry Sauce. Once these two elements are ready, they will simply need to be layered to create the finished dessert!
Strawberry Topping:
- Wash, core and slice the Strawberries into small cubes. Place them in a small Saucepan with the Lemon Juice and Sugar. Turn on low heat. - photo 1
- Leave to cook for about 10 minutes (more or less depending on how ripe the fruits are), or until the fruits are very soft and easily break apart. - photo 2
- With an Immersion Blender, blend the chunky sauce until completely smooth. - photo 3
- Pour the smooth sauce through a thin mesh sieve to remove any seeds. - photo 4
Once the sauce is ready, you can start the panna cotta preparation.
- Mix the Gelatine Powder with a little bit of Cold Water (*) and set aside. It will turn into a thick paste, that's normal. - photo 5
- In a small Saucepan, whisk together the Milk, Cream, Sugar, part of the Strawberry Sauce and Vanilla. - photo 6 & 7.
- Bring to a simmer then remove from the heat. - photo 8
(*) Check the instruction on the gelatine package if they advise on a specific water quantity. If not, add about 1 or 2 tablespoons of water - or enough to mix the powder and get a thick paste.
- Away from the heat source (but while the cream is still very hot), add the dissolved Gelatine and whisk well until the gelatine has fully dissolved. - photo 9 & 10
- Directly pour into your serving cups or moulds then place in the fridge to set. It will usually take about 2 hours for the panna cotta to set fully, but that could vary based on the gelatine and temperature. - photo 11
- Once the Panna Cotta have set (if you touch the surface, it should feel slightly hard), top with the rest of the Strawberry Sauce. - photo 12
Keep in the fridge until ready to serve. You can finish the dessert with some fresh Strawberries, some Desiccated Coconut, fresh Mint Leaves or even some Chocolate Curls!
Tips to make this Recipe
- If you want to start preparing this dessert early, the Strawberry Coulis can be made a few days in advance and kept in a jar or air-tight container in the fridge. Or even be made ahead and frozen for a couple of months!
- Using a mix of Milk and Cream (instead of Cream only) creates a much lighter dessert. Alternatively, you can discard the Milk and use Cream only if preferred.
- To get two separate layers, allow for the Panna Cotta to completely set in the fridge before topping with the remaining strawberry sauce. Depending on the type of gelatine you use, it should take about 2 hours in the fridge for the panna cotta to set.
- Switch things up with another Berry - or even with multiple fruits - by replacing the Strawberry Coulis with a Raspberry Coulis or a blended Mixed Berry Compote.
Recipe FAQs
Yes you can, be you will need to use another type of gelling agent or the cream won't set and stay liquid. Instead, you could use some Agar Agar Powder, a plant-based gelling agent, like I used to make my Coconut Panna Cotta.
To make this panna cotta with Agar Agar, substitute the gelatine with 1,5 grams or 3/4 teaspoon of Agar. Agar needs to be boiled to activate, so you will need to add it to the saucepan and whisk it for about 1 minute once the cream starts to boil, then pour it directly into the serving cups.
Absolutely, you will simply need to add a few minutes to the strawberry sauce cooking time to allow for the fruits to thaw.
Yes, I have made Panna Cotta with a combination of Dairy-Free / Plant-Based Milk and Cream. Note that if using a flavoured cream and milk like Almond or Coconut, the overall flavour of the dessert will change too. For a flavour neutral cream/milk, I recommend using Soy.
How to store this Panna Cotta
This dessert should be kept in the fridge and will last for up to two days. I recommend adding any decoration or toppings just before serving the dessert to stay as fresh as possible.
Make it in advance
This Strawberry Panna Cotta will last for 2 days in the fridge, but if you want to start making it ahead, you could prepare the strawberry sauce up to a week in advance and keep it in the fridge. You could also make a larger batch of strawberry coulis and freeze it!
More Strawberry Desserts
- Strawberry Cupcakes from Sweet Beginnings
- Fraisier Cake
- Strawberry Almond Cake
- Strawberry Charlotte Cake
- Coconut Strawberry Scones
- Strawberry Custard Tartlets
- Crumble Cake with Strawberries
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Strawberry Panna Cotta
Ingredients
Strawberry Coulis (Sauce)
- 600 gr (1.3 lbs) Strawberries - fresh or frozen
- 1/2 Lemon, Juiced - about 20 ml / 1 tablesp. of juice
- 60 gr (1/4 cup) Caster Sugar - or fine white sugar
Panna Cotta
- 250 ml (1 cup) Heavy / Thickened Cream
- 250 ml (1 cup) Full Cream Milk
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) Strawberry Coulis / Sauce
- 60 gr (1/4 cup) Caster Sugar - or fine white sugar
- 1 teasp. Vanilla Extract
- 7 gr (2 teasp.) Gelatine Powder
Instructions
Strawberry Coulis (Sauce)
- Wash, hule and cut the Strawberries into small cubes. Place them in a small saucepan with the Lemon Juice and Sugar. Stir to combine then turn on medium-low heat.
- Leave to cook for about 10 minutes, or until the strawberries are very soft (see note 1).
- Blend the sauce until smooth then pour it through a thin mesh sieve to remove any seeds.
Panna Cotta
- In a small bowl, mix the Gelatine Powder with a little bit of very cold water (See note 2). Set aside.
- Whisk together the Milk, Cream, Strawberry Sauce, Sugar and Vanilla in a medium-size saucepan. Turn on medium-low heat and bring to a simmer.
- Remove from the heat and add the Gelatine. Whisk well until the gelatine has fully dissolved into the hot cream.
- Pour into the serving cups and place in the fridge to set for about 2 hours, or until slightly firm to the touch (see note 3).
Finishes
- Once the Panna Cottas have set, top with the rest of the Strawberry Sauce. Optionally, finish with some fresh Strawberries and Mint Leaves.
Notes
- If using frozen strawberries, you might need to cook them for a little bit longer to allow for the fruits to thaw and the extra juices to evaporate.
- I used about 2 tablespoons of water, but some brands might recommend a different quantity of water to dilute the powder. Check your gelatine package for any different recommendation. The gelatine will turn into a thick paste after being mixed with water - it's normal.
- The exact time will depend on the temperature of your fridge. Simply make sure the desserts have set before topping with the rest of the strawberry sauce to keep nice layers.
